The Rose and the Thorne
by mat528
Summary: A/N: This is an alternate universe tale, where the Doctor never met Rose Tyler in his Ninth incarnation, and the Master is the first to meet Rose. What happens when the Alternate Universe Doctor’s Tenth Incarnation meets Rose? This tale, BTW, is dar
1. Chapter 1

ROSE AND THE THORNE

ROSE AND THE THORNE

**A/N: This is an alternate universe tale, where the Doctor never met Rose Tyler in his Ninth incarnation, and the Master is the first to meet Rose. What happens when the Alternate Universe Doctor's Tenth Incarnation meets Rose? **

**This tale, BTW, is darker, and is definitely not light hearted fare. You have been warned, dear reader.**

**I have cast Julian McMahon as the Master…the casting for the Doctor and Rose remains the same as in the TV Series.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own nothin', and I'm making no money off of this.**

**Pairings: Rose Tyler/Master; 10****th**** Doctor/Rose Tyler in later chapters**

CHAPTER ONE

The cemetery had the dewy smell of a London rain as the last patron left. The caretaker reverently closed the gates for the night, pausing for a moment to check one last time to make sure everything was as it should be. He nodded, satisfied that no one was about, and that no graves had been disturbed during his watch. The little man went to the mausoleum that housed the latest Prime Minister of England, Harold Saxon. He bowed his head reverently, sad that such a kind and benevolent man had to meet an untimely end at the hands of his wife.

_At least, justice was served in the end, _he thought, remembering the video he had seen on the telly of Lucy Saxon being removed in handcuffs from the scene of the crime. He had no doubt that she would be permanently locked away after her trial for his murder. As for the others who had been witnesses, including the man dressed in a dapper pinstriped suit, he didn't know their part in the shenanigans…but he was willing to bet that somehow, somewhere, those people had more to do with that situation than they let on.

The caretaker sighed, going to his jeep and starting his engine, cursing as it stalled. Thumping the dashboard, the caretaker was rewarded with his motor revving up again. He backed out of his parking space, eager to get home to his wife and family. Had he looked at the mausoleum more closely, he would have seen the faintest of lights coming from inside the tomb. Inside it, the former Harold Saxon, aka Koschei, the Master, woke from a very deep trance. Using his superior strength to push the lid covering his casket aside, Koschei laughed as he rejoiced in his good fortune concerning the Doctor. It had been child's play to fool even the benevolent Time Lord's superior senses to make his enemy think he had actually died. It was also a lucky coincidence that the foolish git hadn't cremated him…otherwise, he would have had to come up with fail safe plan number two. As it was, the Doctor cradled his enemy, sobbing softly at his demise, vowing to honor his past memory with a decent burial.

Once the Master had been buried, he had counted the days until his "resurrection", waiting for his revenge. It had taken all of his strength to fake his death and to delay the regeneration process, but as he felt himself changing, the Master smiled. Once he knew the process was complete, he left the mausoleum.

He regretted having to engineer things so that his wife, Lucy, ended up in prison, but one did what one had to do to ensure that all loose ends were taken care of. Of course, that left him without a mate to carry out his future plans and take the fall, if need be. He needed another Lucy, and quickly.

He walked over to another tomb and strode inside. The tomb vanished from sight with a quiet hum. Inside his console room, Koschei accessed the computer, changing the records so that he was officially divorced from Lucy. He then patched into the _London Gazette. _He typed in the headline that, when circulated, would be felt around the globe.

Koschei ordered his TARDIS, saying, "Tap into the Northern Penitentiary…I wish to speak to the warden." He noticed that his new voice was somewhat deeper, and to his delight, more menacing. The sound of a phone ringing could be heard; the warden, a slender man with Asian features, answered, saying, "Yes?"

"I would like to speak to Mrs. Lucy Saxon," the Master said.

"Wait one moment…I'll put you on my speaker," the warden said. After turning it on, he told the Master, "Mrs. Saxon already had her one call today. If you call here tomorrow morning, we'll see what we can do."

The Master's pleading voice came over the speaker. "Please! I'm the only relative she's got…I must talk her…see her."

"You may visit her in the morning…ten AM," the warden said dryly.

"Very well," the Master said. He paused for a brief second before adding, "Thanks for all of your help. Have a nice night." The warden terminated the call. As the Master's screen went blank, he exited his console room to change his attire. He wanted to look his very best for his visit with Lucy in the morning.

XXXXXXXX

The next day, the Master visited the penitentiary. He strode up to a guard, saying pleasantly, "Good morning. I am wondering if the facilities are open for visitors. I wish to see Mrs. Lucy Saxon."

The guard answered, "Your name is?"

"Tell her Mr. Harold Masters is here to see her," Koschei responded. The guard used the phone, verifying the information. After about a minute, the guard said, "Go on in."

The Master sat down at the high window. Presently, Lucy Saxon was led in, hands cuffed behind her back. A guard opened the cuffs as she sat down. She took in the Master's new appearance, her eyes confused. The Master lifted the phone off of the wall; Lucy did the same.

"Treating you…are you all right?" He asked. He noted that while Lucy had circles under her eyes, she didn't look any the worse for wear.

"Do I know you?" Lucy asked.

"Yes," the Master confirmed. "I told you about my ability to alter my appearance, remember?"

"Then you are still my husband, Harold Saxon," Lucy responded. Koschei nodded. Lucy asked, "I don't recall…why have you changed?"

"What do you remember from the last few days?" The Master bounced back.

"I don't remember any of the last 72 hours, Harry," Lucy answered, trying to recall the events of the last three days. The malevolent Time Lord considered Lucy's remark. Although he had controlled her mind so that she would not recall any of the past few days' happenings, he knew that, given enough time, she might remember something that would upset his agenda. He seized on a plan, looking at his mate.

"You shot me Lucy," the Master said softly. "Don't you remember?"

Lucy's eyes were distressed. "I don't understand…what are you saying, I _shot_ you?" Lucy's voice had started to rise. A guard approached the pair. The Master smiled, as if to reassure the guard, his eyes boring into him. The law enforcement official's expression was suddenly blank. He returned to his post.

"I wouldn't do that, Harry…I love you," Lucy pleaded with the Master.

"Of course you wouldn't," the Master said with mock sincerity.

"Then, why am I here?" Lucy asked, trying to remember.

"Because, for some reason, it looks as though you ended my existence," the Master answered his voice slightly sorrowful. He almost regretted his next course of action; Lucy had been a faithful mate. He said softly, "But I can help you. I can set you free."

"You can?" Lucy asked, hope shining in her eyes.

"Yes, my dear," the Master told his ex wife. "Here is what you must do…"

The next day, an attendant found Mrs. Harry Saxon dead in her cell.

XXXXXXX

(London, England, 2006; Two Months Later)

In a diner in Powell Estates, Rose Tyler tucked back a stray lock of bottle blonde hair that had fallen from her waitress cap. She went into the kitchen amidst the hustle and bustle of the dinner crowd and sat on the only chair in the room. Letting her shoes drop to the floor, the young woman started massaging her feet.

"Tired?" Shireen, her friend asked.

"Exhausted," Rose said, cracking her feet. "But I can't go home now. Have to wait until day shift."

"I can take your shift for you," Shireen volunteered.

Rose shook her head, saying, "Nope. You've got enough to worry about, with your unborn baby an' all." Her eyes flew to Shireen's large stomach.

"Really…it's no trouble at all," Shireen assured her friend.

"Not that I mind, but you get this way only when there is a man in sight," Rose said, standing up and putting her shoes back on.

"I do _not!" _Shireen protested. "I only get this way when there is a good looking man who looks like he's made of money in sight."

Rose snorted, saying, "Yeah, right, like that type would eat in a place like this!"

Gus, the rotund chef and part time owner, got into the conversation, saying, "An' why wouldn't someone like that want to eat 'ere? We got the best tea in town, and coffee, and beans on toast, an' we won't go into how great the chips are!" He handed a steaming plate to Rose, saying, "Table 11 gets this one." After grabbing the plate in one hand and a teapot in the other, Rose scurried out of the kitchen to bring the patron his or her plate. He turned to Shireen, saying, "An' I'll thank you not to turn my place into a datin' service. Twas datin' a stupid bloke what got you into the mess you're in now!"

"Yeah, yeah," Shireen said, grabbing a plate—this one for table 20—from the rack above the oven. She ran out of the kitchen, passing by Rose, who was on her way back to the kitchen. Shireen motioned to table number four as she walked by. Rose's eyes followed the direction Shireen indicated.

The man looked for all of his handsomeness as though he was royalty and everyone in the diner was a peasant several levels beneath him. He adjusted his dark blue Armani tie, which matched the midnight blue of his eyes. His dark brown hair, expertly cut, was neck length and framed a square face. His full lips were curled in a cold, sneering expression. His entire air was an arrogant one. Although he was wearing a blazer, Rose could tell that beneath the jacket, he had a muscular physique…not one of a body builder, but one like a panther's…all sinewy and wiry, as though he were waiting to pounce on any unsuspecting prey.

The young woman assumed an unaffected air, but the man looked at her as though he knew exactly what made her tick. His eyes commanded her to attend him right away; Rose walked slowly over to the table, taking her own sweet time. The man raised a brow, but declined to comment on her defiance.

"Tea?" Rose asked, holding up the pot.

"I'll have coffee," the man said. His voice was rich and very sophisticated sounding, as though he were a man of the world, Rose noted. She nodded, pulling out a pad and pencil from her pocket.

"Anything else?" Rose queried.

"No," the man answered, looking down at the menu, thoroughly engrossed in it. Rose left the table, non-plussed by his dismissal. The man's eyes followed her as she walked. Despite her lowly position, the human girl walked as though she were above the other people in the diner. She had not been broken by her situation…whatever it was. The man wondered how long it would take for him to bend such an obviously courageous individual's will to his. He decided this one merited further scrutiny.

XXXXXXX

As the wee hours of the morning announced their presence, Rose took the bus home. She crept up the stairs of the Powell Estates flat, hoping that **he **wouldn't see her. The plan seemed simple enough…get enough money to go somewhere, anywhere, and start over. After all, she reasoned, it wasn't like she was a frightened child of fifteen anymore. She slowly unlocked her door….

"Rose!" She heard a drunken voice bellow. Rose remained absolutely still; perhaps, she reasoned, she wouldn't give herself away. The teenager started back the way she came, and then the creaking wooden floors sounded under her oh-so-heavy feet. "ROSE!!" the voice cried louder. Before Rose could run, the man she never called "Father" but "Pete" emerged from the bedroom, a bottle in his hand. He downed some beer and came closer. Rose stood her ground; maybe, if she were lucky, he would pass out and she could escape.

"Hey, Pete," she greeted, forcing herself to not react to the odor of beer as he approached her.

"You got more beer?" Pete Tyler slurred, looking at Rose with cold, dark eyes. At age 37, Pete Tyler was pretty much the epitome of a washed up human being. He had been fired from every job he ever worked because of his drinking and carousing; his finances had long ago been used up for his habit and he was swimming in debt, and worse yet, he found himself relying on his only daughter to support him. _I should never have snuffed her mother, _Pete thought. At least, he reasoned, when Jackie had been alive, she was bringing money (all of which he took) into the flat with her job along with Rose's. Now, as he looked at his thin, yet pretty, daughter, Pete knew that his kid was all he had.

As far as looks went, Pete thought he looked okay enough. He was no handsome bloke, but women fell often enough for his soft, warm eyes, his silky hair (albeit a slightly receding hair line), his lips, and his not-too-fat-or-too-skinny body. His daughter was blessed with his good looks and her mum's too, he reasoned. She had a nice figure, even if it was on the thin side, generous lips, and hazel eyes. She seemed smart, too, earning her keep all on her own. _Yeah, _he thought, _at least she's good for somethin'. _As he dwelled on her tight belly and attractive face, he amended his earlier thought, now thinking, _in fact, she's good for a lot o' things. _

Rose didn't take her eyes off of her sire as she answered, "I got out too late. All the stores were closed." She slightly screamed as Pete backhanded her across her face.

"Wrong answer," he said. Pete hit his daughter again, sending her to the floor. Rose pulled herself to her feet, struggling to remain standing. The elder Tyler then threw his daughter to the floor, ripping her clothes. Taking off his, he took his daughter as he had so often done. Rose closed her eyes the whole time; after he was done, she could hear his snoring beside her.

Rose gingerly pushed him off of her lest he wake up. She stood up, picking up her clothes. While her father had done his worst, Rose, to her credit, didn't scream, nor did she say one word. She knew how to handle her father, and any other man. Her thoughts flew back to the patron in the restaurant earlier that night; he had seemed different when she had brought him his tea. Other men noticed her with lust in their eyes, their looks giving out a blatant invitation, or at the very least, a passing suggestion of their desire, but that one customer didn't seem in the least bit interested in her.

Of course, Rose knew it was only a matter of time before he subjected her to his sexual appetites, just like Jimmy Stone, her neighbor, and all the others. She ran to her bedroom, tugging on the suitcase in the back of her closet and throwing it on the mat she slept on. After changing into some clothes, the teenager tossed her sweats and other belongings into it, closing it with a decided bang. Glancing out the door, Rose breathed a sigh of relief that Pete didn't stir. She went into Pete's bedroom, looking to and fro for any money. She went to his closet, going carefully through the pockets, feeling for pounds, or even loose coins. When that search proved fruitless, Rose went into her mother's tiny bedroom, hoping against hope that Pete hadn't drained it dry.

She felt in the pockets, and then pulled out a five pound note out of one of her mother's skirts. Rose had just gotten lucky again a moment later, pulling out a twenty pound note, when she heard Pete moan. Her eyes darted about fretfully as she glanced at the window, and the fire escape beyond. She ran to her room to grab the suitcase before Pete fully woke up.

"Where are you going, sugar?" Her father called suddenly. "Didn't you like it last time?"

Rose started climbing out of the window. Her father's footsteps could be heard behind her. She felt him pulling her back and both persons fell on the floor.

"'You planning on running away, huh?" Pete asked her. He grabbed her hair and yanked it. Rose cried out as some of it came loose. "You won't get far from me," he asserted, his tone promising more tortures to come. Her father yanked her into his room next door and threw her on the bed, undoing his pants with one hand to take her once more. Rose's eyes darted around the room as he held her down with his other hand.

"OW!!" Pete cried as he felt Rose's teeth sink into the hand that was holding her in place. He slapped her face.

"You'll pay for that, you little git!" Her father shouted. Rose ignored the pain his slap had caused. She bounded off the bed, grabbing the suitcase. The girl looked around for any weapon she could use to her advantage. Spying a letter opener, Rose got it from the other side of her father's bed. Pete reached out, trying to restrain her, but Rose took the opener, stabbing him in the chest with it.

Pete slumped to the ground, crying, "Ow!" His eyes looked toward his daughter, who was escaping out the window. "You b!" The elder Tyler cursed. He pulled out the letter opener, wincing at the pain. _Stupid whore! _He thought. Not feeling a stabbing pain in his heart, Pete thanked his lucky stars that his dimwitted daughter hadn't stabbed him in a major spot. Crawling to the table where the phone was, Pete called a friend to fix his wound. The elder Tyler thought about his daughter going to parts unknown, but smiled when he realized she didn't have a soul in London that she could run to. As for the authorities, who would believe her in this part of town, where even the police didn't have time to get involved in petty squabbles?

It wasn't as though Jackie had any close relatives, and neither did he. He thought about his options as he managed to pull himself to his bed. His friend would patch him up, no questions asked, (unlike a hospital), and if need be, provide a place to hide out from the curious. Once he was bandaged, Pete would return eventually to the apartment to wait. His smile grew as he thought about the old, faded leather belt in his closet, and how he would use it to make Rose pay for skipping out on him. _She'll be back afore long, and when she _**does **_come back…_Pete thought, drooling at the possibilities.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO

Rose made her way through the London streets, which even during the early morning hours, were teeming with people. They gave scant notice to the girl as she struggled to carry the heavy suitcase to the bus stop. Her eyes kept darting back and forth, as if she expected Pete to drag her back to the flat kicking and screaming at any moment.

The bus finally came, and, to Rose's delight, there was no sign of her father. She paid her fare, then settled into a seat, setting her suitcase on the seat beside her. The girl considered her options, which were few. She could try to stay with Shireen, but she didn't want to impose on her friend, given that she would probably give birth soon. She didn't know a soul in, or outside of, London, except Gus and some of the other people who worked at the diner. Rose considered Gus who, despite his rugged exterior, had a heart, but Gus had nine children and a wife to support.

A forbidden thought entered the teenager's mind. Rose thought about the patron she had met yesterday. He seemed to have money to spare, judging by his designer clothes, and if he was amenable to a little company…. Her mind made up, Rose got off at the corner of Hope and Sherwood, making her way into the restaurant.

"You're in early," Bythea Davidson, a waitress who was the most senior of the group said. Her eyes took in Rose's luggage and her haggard condition. _Best not to get involved, _Bythea reasoned.

"Do you know where I can find room and board?" Rose asked.

Bythea answered, "There's a flat Gus rents above the restaurant. Got cheap rates. It isn't much, but you can stay there for awhile. I manage it when Gus can't."

"Can I see it now?" Rose asked. Bythea nodded, leading Rose upstairs to the apartment.

Bythea let the girl in, giving Rose a spare key. Rose stared at the room which, despite its meager appearance, at least looked clean. She saw a bed neatly made in one corner, a small refrigerator, a night stand by the bed, a single lamp, and, beyond the living room/bedroom, a bathroom. A small phone was on the stand. Beyond the phone, on a second night stand table, a small television set rested. Rose put her suitcase on the bed, feeling the mattress. It was a little lumpy, but at least it _was _a mattress and not a mat on the floor. She walked into the flat, glancing at the bathroom, which had a shower, a toilet, and a sink. Nodding her approval, Rose asked, "how much?"

"Since you work here, I'm sure Gus can let you have it for only £150. I'll speak with him about it," Bythea said, all business. "Rent's due at the first o' the month."

"'Kay," Rose said. "You think Gus'll let me stay, no questions asked?"

"You're a good worker, you keep to yourself, an' you make the customers happy…Gus'd be a fool to let you get away!" Bythea assured Rose. "Sides, he usually listens to me. I say, you can stay." The older woman left Rose. The young girl sank on the mattress, grateful as she went to sleep for her good fortune.

XXXXXXX

The Master scanned his database for any and all mention on the staff at the Silver Spoon Diner on Hope and Sherwood. The TARDIS displayed a list of names, 15 in all.

"Give me the female names only," the Master commanded. The TARDIS readily complied. His eyes scanned the list, peering at any details. There were only two, he noted based on their records, on the list of women that would have matched the girl's age who served him. The names were Shireen Blake and Rose Tyler. Scanning Shireen's vital details first, the Master eliminated the pregnant girl immediately.

"I want any and all information displayed on Rose Tyler," the evil Time Lord instructed.

The screen listed Rose's general statistics, time of employment at the diner, parentage, and other information. He noted that in addition to her father, Rose had a mother who had died under mysterious circumstances. He also paid close attention to the fact that Pete Tyler had been involved in several arrests for drunk driving, and had charges dropped for one case of sexual abuse. The Master smiled, an expression of triumph crossing his face. His instincts told him that, despite her obviously rough life, she would be an ideal candidate for what he had in mind. He knew that, given the right circumstances, he could gain the human girl's confidence and mold her to his own specifications.

He set the coordinates for the basement under the diner in the storage room at 9PM. His TARDIS materialized a second later, its chameleon circuit taking on the resemblance of a second pantry. Walking out, his face beaming, he headed for the restaurant, confident that Rose would make an appearance. He was rewarded as he sat down at the table with a glimpse of his victim as she walked by. When Rose entered the kitchen, Shireen tugged on her uniform, whispering, "Don't look now, but Table Number Four is back." The brunette girl's face took on a dreamy expression. "See if he has a twin brother for me, eh?" She asked Rose.

Rose snorted, grabbing the teapot and a cup from the rack in the kitchen. She walked up to the man, making sure to stick out her chest a little as she came closer. "Tea?" She inquired sweetly.

The Master's eyes raked over her pathetically obvious attempt to seduce him. His face giving nothing away, he said, "Yes." Rose filled up his cup, noting that he had enough cream, sugar, and sugar substitute. She pulled out her pad, asking if he wanted anything else. The evil Time Lord declined. Before she walked away, his voice stopped her. "Why don't you take a break? You look rather tired," the Master said in his most charming voice.

"Can't…I just clocked in," Rose muttered, wondering why she felt such a chill around him.

"Oh, come on…just for a minute," the Master tried again. "I promise I won't bite." Rose thought for a moment, but then shook her head again, saying, "sorry." She walked away.

The Master's eyes followed her retreating form. _Interesting, _he thought. _She isn't so easily manipulated by my mental influence. I __**was**__ right about this one._ He got up, walking to the counter. Bythea was serving tea and toast to other patrons.

"Excuse me," he said in a falsely warm voice.

Bythea noticed the handsome man with the designer suit. "Yes, sir," she said in a voice that was too cheerful. "May I help you?"

"The young lady who served me," he began, pointing to his table. "What is her name?"

"Oh, you mean Rose?" Bythea responded.

The Master nodded, secretly glad that the woman was confirming the records he had gathered scant moments before in his ship. "What about her?" Bythea asked.

"Does she work here everyday, or does she have other employment?" he queried, managing his most disarming smile. Bythea found herself enraptured by his charms.

"Oh, no, Rose ain't got another job. She works here always, seven days a week," Bythea answered. "Why did you want to know?"

"My secretary quit this morning…she had to relocate in a hurry, and I think, if Ms. Tyler is amenable, I could offer her a part time job in my office," the malevolent Time Lord lied smoothly.

Bythea replied, "Well, you'll have to ask her, but I'm reasonably sure she'd jump at the chance…particularly if it pays well."

"I pay all my employees well," Koschei fibbed. He pulled out a dummy business card, which read _Daemon Thorne, CEO, Masters, Inc., 465 Tempus Lane, London, SE1, England, United Kingdom, 02-666-45-926, Email: . _Bythea nodded after reading the card. She handed it back, running to the kitchen door. The Master left, returning to his table.

"Rose!" She called.

Rose emerged, drying her hands. "Yeah?" She called.

"The guy at your table wants to ask you somethin'," the senior employee said. "Go see what he wants." She motioned to the man at table four, who sat imperiously as if he were on a throne. Rose saw the way he sat; it was the same way he had the day before, as though he wanted her to wait on him right away. The girl responded with the same, slow walk the way she'd done the night before.

"You wanted to see me?" Rose asked, sliding into the seat across from him. She folded her arms in front of herself, trying to discern his motives with her eyes. The Master gave nothing away, as his blue eyes found and held her hazel ones.

"Yes, Miss Tyler," the Master said. Rose wasn't shocked that he'd learned her name; many men had inquired about her, after all.

"What's this in reference to?" She asked coolly.

Again, the Master admired her bravery, for all the good it would do her in the end. "I wanted to offer you a job, actually," he said, pulling out a business card and handing it to her. Rose took the card, glancing at it. She handed it back to him.

"Not interested," she said dismissively.

The Master's eyes flashed with anger for a moment. How _dare _this child, who was so obviously beneath his greatness, refuse him! Forcing himself to calm down, he smiled as genuine a smile as he could muster, saying, "please…at least hear my offer before you turn me down."

"Okay," Rose said, looking warily at the man.

"I have a number of interests from one end of the globe to the other," the Master let his lie roll smoothly off his tongue. "I need someone to keep track of them."

"And what business are you in, Mr. Thorne?" Rose asked.

"I'm in the Import/Export business, you might say," Koschei told the girl. Rose gave him an appraising look before she answered.

"I don't know anything about that profession," she muttered.

"Well, you would be getting in on the ground position," the Master assured her. "You would gain more knowledge as you move further up in the company."

Rose let her guard down for a moment; the evil Time Lord noted the temptation in her eyes. After only a second, Rose's defenses were back in place. There were many girls in her position who had taken such "job offers" and became mistresses to those they worked for. Rose was determined that if he was looking for an easy lay, she would make sure he paid through the nose for it.

"How much would this position pay?" Rose asked, her tone all business.

"How does £1100 pounds a month sound?" Koschei offered her. Rose mulled over his offer; apparently, Mr. Thorne wanted her services badly enough to pay a decent wage. She still decided, however, that she couldn't be too careful.

"What about training for this position?" Rose questioned. "An' would I receive extra pay for grooming, and the like?"

The Master fixed her with an appraising stare. The girl, he noted, was desirable by human standards; her will was also tempting by his…but she was undernourished and had great circles under her eyes. Her general appearance would have to be corrected if she were to be any kind of use to him.

"I would be willing to take care of grooming and clothing comparable to the job you would be doing for me," the Master answered.

"What about working hours," Rose asked. "I mean, would I be able to work whatever days I wanted from by-week to by-week?"

"Of course," the Master responded. Her scent of wariness had changed, the Time Lord observed. The rise in her pheromones told him she found his offer attractive.

"I need time to think about it," Rose replied.

"Naturally, you do," Koschei agreed. "Let's leave it at this: I will be leaving for Geneva next week. Why don't you get back to me one way or the other?" He pulled out the card, handing it to her once more. Rose looked at it, pocketing the card. She nodded, rising from the table.

She was about to leave when she heard a colder voice: "did I say our meeting was over yet?" Koschei asked.

"No, I decided it was," Rose said. Not wanting to discourage him too much, she added, "I have other customers."

The Master placed some currency on the table and got up, saying, "Yes, of course you do." He walked over to the door and exited the diner without giving Rose the slightest glance.

XXXXXXXXXX

For the next two weeks, Rose didn't call Thorne, nor did she see or hear from him. She also hadn't heard from Pete either. She went about her duties, waiting on customers, not giving Thorne a second thought, until…She saw him at his usual spot one Sunday evening.

"Miss Tyler…" she heard him say from across the room. How he had managed to project his voice was beyond her. Rose walked over to his table, ready to begin their usual tete-a-tete.

"Mr. Thorne," Rose greeted her pad at the ready. She sat across from him; she knew that was what he wanted. His eyes told her that he was angry with her. The teenager paid his expression no mind.

"I would have thought you'd jump at my offer," he said, looking at the menu. "Why didn't you call me?"

"I thought about your offer," Rose replied smoothly, "but I have some reservations."

"Oh?" The Master asked, putting down the menu.

"For starters, I never heard of your company, an' I've lived in London all of my life," Rose started.

"And you can tell me that you know every business inside of London?" the evil Time Lord countered, smirking.

Rose shook her head, saying, "No, but I know of some, and I haven't heard of you. I also checked you out on the Internet. Funny thing is, I had trouble finding the email address you gave me."

"Come with me…I'll show you why you had trouble finding me," the Master told her.

Rose wondered why this man would make such an odd request. She was intrigued, despite herself, but she wouldn't go with him without more information. "Why should I?" She asked.

"Well…" the Master responded, "If you must know…I changed my email address for personal reasons."

"An' you would rather tell me at your office, rather than here?" Rose asked, warily eyeing her possible new employer.

The Master peered at her, and said, not missing a beat, "You needn't worry that I have sexual designs on you, Miss Tyler. I can assure you…my intentions are honorable."

Rose's eyes widened a little before she forced herself to look elsewhere lest she give herself away. How did he know what she thought? Most men didn't have a clue into her innermost thoughts, but Thorne seemed to know her every move. It was a wonder that he didn't have eyes in the back of his head. While that unnerved her, she was intrigued to learn what he was hiding, despite herself.

"Can I meet you at your office in about an hour?" Rose questioned.

"Of course," Thorne answered. "You have the address." He stood up, walking to the diner's door. When he left, Rose went to the kitchen.

"Gus…I need some time off," Rose said to the part owner. "You know I never asked for leave, an' I want to take it before Shirene has her baby."

"Yeah, fine…but just be where we can call," Gus told the girl. She hugged him, going out of the kitchen, and toward her destiny.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER THREE

XXXXXXXXX

…"Process complete," the Master's male sounding TARDIS informed him. Koschei rubbed his hands gleefully. He glanced around the medical area, checking and double checking to see that all was ready for his very special guest. If Rose Tyler was the woman he sensed she was, she would be eternally grateful to him…and he would see to it that she spent her entire life proving it. Going into his ship's console room, the malevolent Time Lord checked the chameleon circuit, making sure it made the outside of his time travel device resemble the door on an office. Smiling broadly, the Master could hardly stand his elation at the game he would play. He ordered that the lights be dimmed and waited in the hallway.

XXXXXXXXXX

Rose Tyler looked at the glass door that was in front of her, bearing the name _Masters, Inc., London Office. _As she adjusted the only top and skirt she had, checking her reflection to see that her hair was not falling out of the bobby pins she had secured it with, she felt a wave of trepidation that shook her to the depths of her soul. She couldn't help feeling that she was walking into a trap…something which, once she entered it, she just knew she wouldn't be able to escape from. The teenager shook off the negative feelings, remembering the salary she had been offered. Once she established a bank account, she reasoned, she could always quit none the worse for wear, and eventually get a flat in a high security building where she could be sheltered from everyone, especially Pete. She knocked, but didn't hear anything.

Inside his ship, the Master could hear Rose's soft knocking at the door. _Showtime, _he thought, instructing the TARDIS to open it. Rose walked in, taking in the dark room, her hands clenched to fight, if necessary. She furiously wiped away her sweat and banked down the rising fear she felt.

"Hello?" Rose asked nervously. With slightly more confidence a second later, she called, "Mr. Thorne? Where are you?"

She heard a whisper, then a click. Suddenly, she was bathed in light. Rose looked around her, and what she saw made her gasp. She was standing in what looked like a gigantic room, with roundels on the walls. They were painted a sinister black, and were all around her. The room itself was bigger than the door she had entered through. Rose looked ahead, not seeing Thorne anywhere. She spied a hexagonal device on the far side of the room with lights blinking on it in rapid succession. In the room's center a cone shaped object with greenish lights in its glass casing was pulsing but not moving.

Before Rose could get a better look at it, she heard a singsong voice call, _Rose…Rose…_

"Mr. Thorne?" Rose called out, her panic rising. "Where are you?"

_Not here…_she heard the voice say. Rose hid behind a wall of anger as she countered, "If this is a joke, it's not _funny! _Where are you hiding?"

_Not far…just follow the sound of my voice, _Rose heard the male singsong voice answer. Rose ran to the door she had entered, but it vanished. _You can't escape that way, _the voice taunted. _There's only __**one**__ way out….Follow me, Rose._

Rose backed away toward where the door had been. "Let me out!" She screamed.

_Don't be frightened…I'm not going to hurt you, _the voice whispered softly, adding, _quite the reverse. Come to me…INTO MY ARMS! _Rose ran after the voice had shouted through a door that had appeared on the left side of the room. She kept running down endless corridors, and then bolted through the only door she found. Another bright light engulfed her. She adjusted her eyes, finding that she had run into a smaller room.

"Have you got Mr. Thorne?" Rose accused. "If you have, I demand that you let him go!" Just then, she saw Thorne emerge into the room she had run into.

"Now, why would I grab myself, Rose Tyler?" Thorne mocked, laughing softly. Really looking at him for the first time, Rose realized that she had been right…this _was_ an elaborate trap.

"Who are you, really? What do you want with me?" Rose yelled. She backed away as Thorne circled her.

"Why, nothing, my dear…at least, not what _you _think I want…" Thorne said. "In fact," he continued, "I want to help you."

Rose peered at him as he circled her. "Help me with what?" She asked warily.

"I wish to be your…benefactor, you might say," Thorne told her. "I know you have a great deal of potential. I sensed it right off when we met." He stopped circling.

Rose wondered what to make of that statement. She eyed Thorne, making sure that he wasn't coming any closer.

"What do you mean?" Rose queried, never taking her eyes off of him.

"I did a background check on you, Miss Tyler," Thorne said. "You have had a great many, shall we say, male irritants in your past…men who have wronged you, starting with your father, Peter Tyler. I wish to help you take vengeance on them."

"Assuming that's true…why would you want to help me?" Rose inquired.

"Because I see the anger in you, and beyond that, the lust for power, for revenge…" Thorne said reverently. "It called to me when I first noticed you. I've never seen anything at your level in a human being. To be able to harness your darkness would be something that would excite me greatly."

"Why?" Rose asked, curious despite her wariness. Thorne met her curious hazel eyes with his midnight blue ones, encroaching on the borders of her mind.

"Because, my Rose…you would be the perfect weapon I'm looking for to complete my plans," Thorne answered. He observed Rose closely. Though she was still not inclined to trust him, he saw, for a moment, the darkness within her, coming out in her eyes.

Rose looked at the spot where Thorne had stood, wondering where he'd disappeared to so quickly. Suddenly, his cool breath tickled her. Her confusion was evident when the Master pulled her blonde hair back and tucked it behind her left ear. The girl's instincts told her that he was off his rocker…that she should forget this craziness and return home…so why did she want to listen to him?

"Think of it, my avenging angel…you could be in my army, second only to me. All those who have made you theirs…who took you and violated you without permission, would be your willing slaves, and you would be their Queen! It is a service I can provide. All you would have to do is submit yourself to me, and never betray me," Thorne said softly, playing with her hair. Rose considered all Thorne had said. Was he with the Mafia? Could he kill off Jimmy Stone, Pete, and the other men who'd sexually molested her, or was he just insane, caught up in his own delusions of grandeur?

The young girl knew on one level that he was crazy, but she still wanted to know more about him. If he really _could _turn the tables on those who'd taken so much from her, she would be a fool to walk away. She turned around, facing him. Putting her arms around his neck, Rose gently pulled him in, kissing him long and hard. She let him go, thinking that she had him right where she wanted him, but then Thorne laughed at her, thoroughly amused.

"Is that how you get what you want from men? I told you before when we first met, I have no sexual designs on you," he chided. "Your charms, though quite enticing to those poor sods who want you that way, will not work on me. Still…that is another weapon I will exploit."

"What are you talking about?" Rose demanded.

"Come…" Thorne said, motioning for her to follow. "I wish to show you something."

They walked through corridors, the Master's ship dutifully folding them back. Presently, they reached the hallway leading to the medical area. Thorne stood outside the door, realizing he had to prepare her for what lie ahead.

"You might be frightened, but just remember, I'm here…and I have no wish to harm you," he said as he pushed open the door. Rose's mouth opened wide as she took in the equipment she saw lying there. Some of the monitors and equipment resembled what one would find in a hospital, or clinic, but it was the gadgetry that she'd never seen before that drew her attention. A silver device resembling a helmet with dials upon which swirls and symbols were etched caught her eye.

"You said you were in the import/export business…" Rose began.

"And?" Thorne prompted.

"Is this stuff smuggled in from some government lab somewhere?" Rose inquired.

"Not quite, Miss Tyler," Thorne said. He crossed over to the device, fingering it as he continued, "these are things from my now extinct home planet, particularly this one, the Chameleon Arch."

"Pl-an-et?" Rose questioned slowly. She backed away, toward the door, saying, "Of _course _it is…" If she could just humor this obviously mentally unbalanced man, she could escape. Again, as before, the door she intended to use had vanished.

Thorne made a tsk-tsk sound, saying, "You still don't believe me, do you, Miss Tyler? I don't blame you, actually. If I were in your shoes, I might be inclined to doubt me…"

He advanced on her, grabbing her hand and placing her fingers over his dual pulse. Rose felt the pulses as well as his cool temperature and whispered, her eyes looking at him in blind terror, "wha'…what are you?"

"Not human," Thorne responded, smirking. "Also, not Daemon Thorne. That was just an alias. I am known as 'The Master'." She felt his cool breath once more as he explained slowly, punctuating every word, "I.am.an.alien, a Time Lord, actually. I am from the planet Gallifrey, in the constellation of Casterborous."

"What is a Time Lord?" Rose asked still afraid, but not daring to move away from him.

"We were a race of beings who ruled over all of Time and Space. We could travel to any universe, any time period," he said, moving slightly away.

"You said 'were' just now," Rose observed, "an' you had said that your planet was extinct. What happened?"

The Master's eyes took on a faraway look as he remembered the last day of the Time Lords' lives. "There was a war…a Time War. Robotic beings called 'Daleks' defeated the race from which I was spawned. I ran away before the end…the Time Lords weren't so lucky." He paused as he remembered looking at the exploding Gallifrey from his TARDIS's view screen. "In the end, there were only two of us…" he said. "Myself, and my greatest enemy, the Doctor." His eyes frosted with hatred as he mentioned the Doctor.

Rose felt a moment of compassion for him. Her eyes grew slightly moist as she muttered, "I'm sorry."

The Master's hateful expression turned on her as he snarled, "I don't want your pity! They were stupid, weak fools! They deserved to die!" He glanced at the Chameleon Arch, saying, "But that doesn't mean that their greatness should be extinguished. It occurs to me that a newer, more powerful race of Lords and Ladies properly run could not only destroy the Daleks, but rewrite all history, shaping it to our choosing."

"All history?" Rose asked. The Master looked at her, advancing on her and pinning his arms on both sides of her. _"Think of it, Rose!" _He cried. She saw the madness and the excitement in his eyes. "You and I ruling all galaxies…all universes with a small armada of Time Lords and Ladies, for all eternity! We could bring whole planets to their knees worshipping us for the gods we _are! _There would be no suffering…any war…unless, of course, we wished it! And we would start with the planet that needs our brand of conversion the most…your planet, Earth!"

Rose was fascinated on one level. She had never considered having power on that scale, but as she started believing him, the girl began to salivate at the possibilities. The Master saw Rose's eyes darken once again and smiled a triumphant smile.

"You would be the first to be altered…so that you would become just like I am," he answered. Rose's eyes clouded with confusion. "You would be a Time Lady," the Master explained, "a fitting consort for me."

"Did the Time Ladies have special powers, or something?" Rose wondered aloud.

The evil Time Lord nodded, responding, "Yes. We all did. We were telepathic, able to bond with one another. We could also control lower beings with our mental abilities. We had superior intelligence, and we could change our physical appearance given enough time when we were about to die. That process was called 'regeneration'."

Rose thought about being able to outlive those who had harmed her. Even if she didn't take her vengeance out on her sire and the others, she would be able to watch them wither and die…it was a win-win situation either way, and too delicious to resist.

She wanted to play hard to get, though…better to let the Master think she was mulling over all that he said.

"What would I have to do?" She asked, growing more enticed by him.

"Just agree to my offer…no questions asked," the Master responded.

"An' what if I decline?" Rose inquired. Koschei gestured to a door which had suddenly appeared.

"Then you may leave, and no hard feelings," the Master told her.

Rose looked toward the door, and then toward the Chameleon Arch. Although it could prove harmful to her, she just _had _to try. The temptation of total and complete control over those who'd thought they were her betters was too enticing to ignore. She walked toward him, holding out her hand. The Master smiled, commenting, "a _very _wise decision. I knew there was a reason I chose you." He pointed to the table underneath the Arch. Rose lay upon it.

"You're sure it's safe…that I'll be jus' as you said?" She asked, still feeling a moment's hesitation.

"Of course," the Master replied smoothly. "Would I lie to you, my dear?"

Rose decided it was probably best not to answer that. The evil Time Lord pulled the device over her face, securing it. He checked its dial to make sure it was on the proper setting. He strapped her to the table, not making her bonds too tight. After checking the equipment one last time to be sure it was operating normally, he told her, smirking, "Oh…one thing more…I forgot to mention, there might be a touch of pain while your body and mind are adjusting." He removed a time piece from his pocket, attaching it to the computer which was across from the table. Turning the equipment on, he laughed at Rose's screams as her head darted from side to side. She struggled against her bonds, her anguished cries growing louder.

"Sorry, my dear," the Master said softly, "but as you Earthers say, 'no pain…no gain'."

After several moments, the TARDIS reported, "Stage one…complete. Physical genetic code rewritten."

"Excellent," the Master praised his ship. "Now for stage two," He said, flicking another switch. Rose continued to scream, and then lost consciousness. A few minutes passed before the TARDIS confirmed the completion of stage two. The Master rubbed his hands together. He saw the yellow beam of light that was the human essence of Rose Tyler float harmlessly by, taking residence inside the watch on his computer.

More minutes passed by. The Master waited, impatient for the results. "Transference complete," his TARDIS informed him.

"Specify," Koschei commanded. "How much of her DNA is now Gallifreyan?"

"Ninety-Seven point oh-one-nine percent of subject's DNA has been altered to Gallifreyan physiology," the TARDIS confirmed. The Master came to her, feeling her wrist for a dual pulse. When he found one, he scanned the heart monitor for two hearts' beats. Seeing her hearts beating in perfect rhythm, he studied the read-out of her temperature. It was a perfect 68.9 degrees. He checked her brain synapses. Their output had quadrupled…the same as a normal Gallifreyan Time Lady's.

"YES!!" The Master cried excitedly. "Now _that's _what I want to see! If she survives the process, she will be better than she has ever been!" He switched off the equipment, waiting for his butterfly to emerge from her cocoon.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FOUR

Rose mentally felt as though she was floating in space. Her mind felt light, empty…as though it was waiting to be filled with all sorts of information. She remembered her name, but little else. She could feel her arms reaching out for something…but it was as though she was a disembodied entity, like her arms weren't really there. What had happened, she wondered. Where was she? Had she died? Of course not, her mind told her. There was no such thing as the afterlife; there were only the vortex and the matrix, the nexus of all Time and Space. As she seized on the words "Time" and "Space", her mind wrapped around the sensations she felt, the connection to those concepts. To her, they were not mere words, but her whole existence.

Her eyes flew open. She became aware of several senses all at once…her sight not only saw the lights overhead, but myriads of colors dancing in the chamber she inhabited. Her sense of smell told her that she was in a medical facility, but it also told her about the scent of the computers, her own perfumed body, the cool dewiness of her skin…and something…no, _someone _else. The one she smelled was like her…she knew it. But he smelled like a male version of her. She could detect his pheromones as clear as she could see the orange skies of…Gallifrey in her memory. What was Gallifrey? Was it a person? Was it the name of the stranger who bent over her?

"Where am I?" She asked. Rose peered at the figure bending down to run a final check on her. She felt the stirrings of his mind; it reached to tickle her own as he released her from her bonds. The touch of strong, masculine hands was what she felt next. She grabbed them with her fingers and marveled at the excitement coursing in her veins. Rose could hear her hearts beating, or were they his? Was it hearts…or _heart?_ But no, it couldn't be that she had ever had _one _heart. She sat up slowly, repeating her earlier question.

The man who'd bent over her asked her, "What do you remember?"

Rose concentrated for a moment, then replied, "I remember being in here, and being in a lot of pain…but it seems better now. Was I in an accident?"

"You were confused," the man responded, "and you were unconscious for quite some time, but now you are on your way to recovery."

"But, I don't understand…you know who I am?" Rose queried.

The man nodded. "Yes, dear Rose, I know exactly who you are…and what your purpose is," he said, a look of determination crossing his handsome face. He took her hand, tugging on her arm until she got down off of the table. "Come, I will show you many things."

Rose felt no fear as she let the man lead her to a chamber with a garden in it. Vines smothered the walls in the dark room. In the center lay a circle with markings on it. A smooth stone in the center of the circle, grey in its pearlescence, started glowing. Amidst the vines on the wall, Rose noticed a panel. The panel opened suddenly to reveal a gate with the same markings that were on the stone. Rose stepped forward, staring at the gate. She could see all of the stars, planets, and heavenly bodies in it. The tableau kept switching to other stars, other planets, visions of Space. She found herself hypnotized by the views she saw at first, but after a moment, ran to hide behind the man.

"What's wrong, my dear?" he asked in a mocking tone. "Can't face infinity?"

Rose shielded her eyes, shaking her head. The man pushed her forward without mercy, thrusting her eyes open with his fingers so that she stared at the endless parade of star systems. "Please…" she pleaded, "no more."

"But you must see what you are the ruler of…" the man half said, half commanded. Rose's eyes widened as she absorbed all realities…all places…all of history. She walked forward, growing bolder with each step she took.

"I rule all of this?" She asked, looking back at the man.

"We both are rulers," the Master said. "Do you recall your destiny now?"

Rose turned back to the gate and nodded finally, as clarity came to her. "I am a Goddess…a Ruler of Time, the Queen of all I survey," she said in a flat, emotionless voice.

"And what am I to you?" the man asked.

Rose looked to him, saying, "You are my Master, my King, my reason for living. There is no life for me without you." She gave him her hand. The Master smiled, kissing her fingers.

"And what is your purpose?" the Master asked.

Rose smiled…an evil reflection of his own, as she said, "To bend other lower subjects to my will, and to exact my vengeance on those who have wronged me!"

"Yes…_**yes**_…" the Master urged. "And…" he crossed over to a screen, turning off the switch to the gate and turning on a hologram of the Doctor. "What about this one?" the evil Time Lord asked.

"Who is he?" Rose questioned, staring at the Doctor's round face, brown eyes, and freckles.

"Why…he is the Doctor, my dear," Koschei replied. Rose's face twisted with hatred; her whole body shook with anger.

"He must be destroyed! He _will _be destroyed…for trying to usurp our rightful place as the Rulers of all!" Rose ground out bitterly.

"Don't worry yourself my pet," the Master said, coming to her and rubbing her back. His hands reached up and massaged her ears. "He will pay for his insolence…but for now, there are some loose ends which need taking care of." He stared at her attire suddenly, commenting, "I think you need more suitable clothes for a Goddess of Time, don't you?"

Rose looked down at her skirt and top, saying, "Yes, I do."

"Then come with me…I'll show you where the wardrobe room is," the Master instructed. He took her hand in his, and the pair walked out of the medical area.

XXXXXXXX

Rose emerged from the wardrobe room an hour later, adjusting the hat perched on her head. The former waitress was dressed in a fuchsia colored ensemble, which included a form-fitting vest with matching buttons going down its center; pants resembling culottes with brown fur on the end, and high heeled boots in a dark brown hue. Her hair was expertly coiffed. It was in a stylish upsweep. More than her clothes, there was an arrogant air about her. It matched the Master's perfectly.

She came into the console room, complete with the last part of her attire…a pink parasol with fur on the end of it. "Where are we headed?" She asked as she peered at the rotor going up and down.

"Earth," the Master replied. "I thought you'd want to pay your sire a visit. I've set the coordinates for one month hence."

Rose frowned, saying, "Yes…I do. I think he needs to be taught who is his superior!" She grinned evilly as she looked at the TARDIS database. Presently, the ship landed in Powell Estates. Rose stepped out first, almost gagging at the London smog.

"Oh!" She cried, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "Will these Terran primitives ever learn? How can they live like this?"

The Master followed her, looking for all the world like he was going to a dinner party. "They _never_ learn; they're stupid primates…that's why we must teach them, or kill them if they don't obey us," he said. Rose's only response was to pull down her vest.

She sighed, muttering, "Then let's get this over with. I grow bored with these insolents!"

"Patience, my pet," the Master said. "You'll deal with the humans of this world soon enough." He caressed her cheek, adding, "You'll be my special messenger…a harbinger of what is to come. But first…." They continued walking toward Powell Estates, and Pete Tyler's flat.

XXXXXXXX

Pete Tyler sat quietly in his kitchen, drinking his beer and reading a paper. He hadn't seen nor heard from his daughter in as much as thirty days, and this was not like her. She always returned, no matter how much he beat her. She knew that his home was hers, and that no life existed for her without his. _Damn her! _He thought. He decided that he might have to look for her after all…he couldn't risk getting rid of his gravy train. Rose's pay gave him the money he needed for booze…and besides, where else was he gonna get a free blow job from?

Pete could go to his friend Tripper's house. Unlike him, his friend had connections. Maybe he could fix Pete up with some jobs for Tripper's superiors. If Pete could get in good with the bosses, he could bring home big bucks. It was no consequence to Pete how he earned his keep…he didn't mind killing someone, or raping someone's girl, as long as he got paid, and as long as the booze and the belles kept flowing. The only thing that stank about all this was his erstwhile daughter. If the chit found a sympathetic ear to spout her big mouth to…he was finished. He knew how many decades proven rapists could rot in a British prison. He grabbed the letter opener she'd stabbed him with a month ago. He was determined to return the favor, watching the blood flow out of her traitorous body.

Outside of Pete's flat, Rose glanced at the place she'd existed in for most of her life. "I can't believe I was here for nineteen years of my pathetic life as one of them," she muttered, asking the Master, "what was I _thinking?!"_

"What matters is that you have embraced your true nature," the malevolent Time Lord told her. "Don't take too long, pet…I'm going back to the TARDIS, unless you request that I stay…" he said.

Rose shook her head, saying, "I can deal with this myself." She watched the Master's retreating form, then looked at the perimeters of the front door. Putting her perfectly manicured fingers against its frame, she used her newly acquired strength to push it down.

Pete Tyler heard the crash and ran into his living room. What he saw caused him to smirk. His daughter was there in a souped up garment which must have cost a fortune. He wanted in on whoever gave her the togs she wore; she wouldn't be the only one to get some money out of this.

"Kid," he greeted.

Rose's response was to raise a brow. "Hardly," she bounced back. Rose walked closer to him, but made no other moves.

"Came back to your old man, eh? I'm glad to see you," Pete said. He took another swig of his beer and broke the glass against the wall.

"Wish I could say the same, but I'd be lying," Rose observed. She caught a whiff of his drunkenness and tried not to puke at the pungent odor Pete gave off.

"Where'd you run off to?" Pete asked in a menacing voice. "An' where'd you get them fancy rags?"

"Come an' find out," Rose purred, her voice deceptively sweet. Pete came closer, determined to take her until she gave in. His arm snaked around her waist, but Rose grabbed his other arm, pinning it behind his back. Pete cried out in pain, as Rose mocked, "Ooohhh, so sorry. Does it hurt? Did I do a boo-boo?"

"You'll pay for that, you bitch!" Pete shouted. Rose spun him around with lightning speed, pinning him against the wall with her arm.

"'Don't think so," she ground out. She backhanded her sire all of a sudden, the force of her assault slamming him on the floor. She bounced on top of him, taking in his shocked expression. "Extremely bored now…" Rose said, hefting Pete up with one hand.

Pete looked at her with utter disbelief. Was she on cocaine, or something? How did she get so strong all of a sudden? He tried to defend himself, but Rose kept knocking him around until he slumped against the living room wall. She grabbed his face between her hands, saying, "I think it's time you realized who is your better…"

Pete saw the lights in Rose's eyes. He had never seen such depth…such colors shining out from them. It was almost like she wasn't human, but some…he couldn't find the right word. He tried to look away, but he couldn't take his eyes off of his daughter's. The elder Tyler felt a burning sensation in his mind, as though it were being stripped away.

"Funny…" he heard Rose say from a distance, "the Master never told me about this ability!" Pete heard her screaming…or was it him? She forced him to look even deeper into her eyes. He screamed louder; so intense was his daughter's mental rape of his mind. Rose's eyes lit with pure lust…and pure hunger as she cried, "Yes…yes…give me _more!_ More of your mind…your very _essence!_" Pete's dreams, thoughts and memories swam before her…she could hear voices from his past. Rose laughed, savoring the sensations she felt. She let Pete go as she sensed him losing consciousness. He fell to the floor in a heap, breathing heavily. Rose released him, licking her fingers as though she had just finished a succulent meal.

She returned to the Master's TARDIS presently, watching him make some calculations. "So," he said, "You have returned."

Rose ran her gloved finger along a wall in the Master's console room, saying in a child like voice, "I took him…but I feel so empty. I need more." She came closer to the Master, tugging him away from the computer he stood by. "Show me your mind…" the young Time Lady said. "I know it's not like Pete Tyler's. It's stronger…not weak, like his!"

The Master chuckled, saying, "I will, but you realize you won't be able to subdue me the way you did him, right?"

Rose pouted, saying in a mock hurt voice, "Really?"

The Master's mind reached out to hers. Rose felt the colors of his thoughts at first, and then some brief impressions. She could hear the drums in his mind…their siren song drifting into her conscious thoughts as her mind and the Master's became one. She saw the Master as a little boy, gazing at infinity through the Gate to Time. She witnessed his defeat several times at the hands of the infidel the Doctor, her hatred matching his. She felt the burning of the idiotic Time Lords, now her people, and their anguished screams as they were engulfed by flames.

She heard the voices of the Master, or was it the Doctor, or was it the High Council? Rose had such trouble discerning which was speaking in her mind's eye. The young Time Lady giggled as the grip of madness seized her. She craved…she drank…she feasted on the Master's superior mind, as a newly created vampire drinks the blood of its sire and then lusts for more.

"Ooohhh!" Rose exclaimed, savoring her connection with her monarch, a desirous look in her insane eyes. She hummed a wordless tune, caught up in the buzz she got from the Master's mind.

The Master released her suddenly, not wanting his pupil to get too much power from him. Better, he knew, to feed an addiction…create a need so powerful she'd do anything to satisfy it.

"More!" Rose insisted. "Must have _more!" _

"Not yet, my insatiable one," the Master said softly. He walked over to her, stroking her, satisfied that now she was like him in every way. Every one else, including the Doctor, was crazy, but not _his Rose. __**His**__ Rose…_he was totally enthralled with his possession…a junkie for mental energy that would topple worlds for him just to get her next fix.

"But the voices…they call me, begging for me to take them…" Rose said in a sing song voice. "I _must_. _I need more…."_

"And you shall have it," the Master said, "as soon as I have programmed the exact Earth coordinates I am seeking."

"And I'll be able to drain all the minds I want?" Rose eagerly asked, giggling again.

"You have my sincerest promise, my dear," the Master said. Rose smiled a manic smile. Her ruler was so good to her.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

**A/N: For those who came in late, in an alternate universe (not the ones in the series), Rose Tyler has been corrupted, genetically altered to be a Time Lady, and turned insane by the Master. She has never met the Doctor. After about a year (their time table) of terrorizing male victims, Rose is about to meet a very special "victim" for the first time, (or will he be)…?**

CHAPTER FIVE

XXXXXXXX

(Three months later, Earth time…)

Jimmy Stone went to the club early that evening. He hoped to see his favorite stripper, Nadine, taking it off and presenting a tantalizing view of her amply displayed wares. As the show began, Stone failed to see the two figures watching him from their vantage point across the room.

The Master smiled at his protégée. In the past year (which he noted was three months for the Terrans,) he had provided fresh, young male victims for his Rose. She'd taunted then, teased them and stripped them of their mental energy so that they were forgetful at the very least, and brain dead at the very worst. He had to admit, Rose was better than Lucy had been. Oh, he reasoned, his ex wife had been a loyal servant in her day, but Rose was a servant _and_ a worshipper of his magnificence, and she thought as he did that all humans, humanoids and other inferior species were chattel, to be used or destroyed on a whim. She experienced no regret when she dispatched her victims, just a cool, merciless feeling, or an insane type of giddiness at being able to satisfy her cravings.

When they came together mentally, emotionally, physically, he'd always been careful enough to leave her just shy of being satisfied. While he amused himself with her, Koschei didn't allow himself to feel any attachment to the former human who might have been a daughter to him in another reality. He could tell, though, that she was getting bored, that she needed a greater stimulus than just simple minded human and humanoid males to feed on. His thoughts flew to the Doctor, all of a sudden. The Master's mind plotted a meeting between them; Rose had been properly conditioned, and she was ready. He practically salivated over the image of the Doctor's mental reserves broken beyond repair, his physical body exhausted past the point of regeneration. If it hadn't been for that twit Doctor Martha Jones getting involved with the Doctor a year ago and ruining his plans, the malevolent Time Lord could have dispatched his former friend to the great Matrix that much sooner.

Still, the Master thought, victory could be a very elusive thing at times. Even he knew that the best laid plans took centuries oftentimes before they came to fruition. He returned to the business at hand.

_I wish for this encounter with your former neighbor to be a different one, my consort, _the Master thought at Rose.

She turned to him in the dark, her eyes glittering as she heard Jimmy's footsteps coming closer to her right.

_Why? _Rose telegraphed back. _He's just a human __**male, **__like all the others I have taken…_

_I wish to use him as a personal calling card for a very dear—_the Master's mental projection of the next word was sarcastic—_friend of mine._

_Friend? _Rose telegraphed back, looking confused.

_Yes, my dear, _the Master thought back. _Someone I am dying for you to meet._

Rose had her traditional faraway look. _Is his mind more tasty than the others?_

_Indeed! _The Master thought gleefully. He could feel Rose's emotions…though she hungered for a challenging mind to link with she also craved another brain she could devour. _Here is what you must do, pet…._he thought to her.

XXXXXXXXX

Jimmy watched the stage for Noreen, utterly disappointed that she was not there. Someone named "Terrific Tina" danced upon it. He placed some pound notes in the stripper's thong, frowning in disgust as he noted how small her chest was in comparison to Noreen's. He was about to order a beer when a lady dressed in a pink get up came to his table.

"Hello, Jimmy…been a long while, hasn't it?" she purred.

Jimmy stared at the woman, and then realized that it was Rose. He took in her appearance. Somehow, the once skinny girl was now a woman, with the figure of an Amazon, and the face of an angel.

"Well, well, well…if it isn't the Rosester," he teased. He edged closer to her, saying in her ear, "Want to go for another test drive with me?"

"That's why I'm here…" Rose said in a seductive voice. She gently pulled the sandy haired man from her and kissed him soundly. "Maybe we should go in back…it's much too noisy in here. I can give you the best snog a man ever had." Her hand teased his crotch.

Jimmy felt himself harden. He threw some pound notes on the table, saying, "Let's go to my place." As he left the club, he bumped into the Master. "Beat it, gramps…this don't concern you!" Jimmy snarled.

The Master backed away, in a hands up gesture as if to say, "its cool…it's cool…I don't want any trouble." He grinned as he saw Jimmy take the bait, his arm curling possessively around Rose's waist. If his addict did just what he had told her to do, the Doctor would receive a very special calling card…one he'd not be able to resist. And the Boy-Scout Time Lord would either pay with his remaining regenerations and die instantly, or he would suffer a worse fate. The Master left the club.

XXXXXXXXX

About one hour later, Rose watched as the "Shadie Brook Rest Home" attendants took Jimmy away screaming. She put on her best sympathetic look.

…"And when you got here, he was screaming and babbling incoherently?" An attendant asked.

"Yes. I've seen the signs before…in my father, Pete Tyler," Rose said sadly. She buried her face in a handkerchief just then, pretending to sob uncontrollably. The attendant shook his head sadly, feeling sorry for Jimmy's girlfriend. One loony in anyone's life was bad enough, but to have _two_…and in so short a time….

"We'll take good care of him," the attendant promised, putting a consoling hand on her shoulder. He walked out, with the demented Time Lady following in his wake. Her eyes lit up at the possibility of taking the orderly's mind as a snack…but, no, her mate would be upset with her if she didn't stick to the plan. Besides, the Doctor would come along and investigate the Home; the idiot would be captured, and then she would feast on something much better!

"I…I…need some time alone," Rose choked out to the orderly as they loaded Jimmy onto the van. Rose could hear Jimmy saying something inside their truck about flowers, namely, roses.

"We'll call you when and if Mr. Stone can have visitors pending an examination." another attendant said.

"Of course, I understand, and thanks so much," she said, sobbing once more. Rose waited until the truck was out of sight. Giggling wildly, she went in search of her Master's TARDIS. When she reached the ship, she keyed information into the computer, taping into the _Estates' News Programme. _She typed a bulletin which would be announced on the air.

XXXXXXXXX

Inside his TARDIS, the Doctor sank into an easy chair, selecting the book on his tea table that he'd neglected to read so many times. He flipped through the pages, not really paying them any attention. Electing to stare into the flames in his fireplace instead, the universe-weary Time Lord considered the direction his life was taking. He felt a fresh wave of guilt at his last mission had gone horribly wrong. He had tried to halt a war on the planet Epsillon Seven, only to make matters worse by taking up with the wrong side. One million deaths later, the Doctor had left the planet disgusted, ready to throw in the towel.

His people, the Time Lords, had spared his life to push the final button in the Time War, bringing an end to the Dalek victory on his home planet and destroying all Daleks everywhere, or so he'd thought. He had preferred to stay alone in his Ninth life, never seeking nor requesting companionship. After 80 years of not encountering so much as a peep from any Daleks, the Doctor ran afoul of some on the defenseless planet of Earth, only to end up sacrificing his Ninth life for some humans who, in his opinion, didn't deserve rescuing. His eyes turned away from the fire, anger and disgust at his bad fortune displayed in them.

_Why do I even bother? _He thought to no one in particular. _Why should I even try to help people any more?_

His mind turned to the last time he'd seen his former friend, Koschei. The Master had almost destroyed Earth in an attempt to remake the planet in his twisted image, and in the process, had ended up tearing apart the relationship his Ninth self had started mere months before with Doctor Martha Jones, an African British young woman the Doctor had met when he was in hospital with multiple wounds (courtesy of the Dalek followers).

It wasn't easy, but he'd persuaded the woman to take him to the TARDIS, and he'd given a very cursory explanation of the change that was about to take place. Martha was pretty agitated after his short haired, blue eyed, longer nosed, slightly older looking body had changed to the youthful, freckle-faced, chocolate eyed Tenth body he wore now. He had managed to get her to stay, promising to return her to Earth after one trip. The Doctor realized that he had needed Martha's company more than she needed him. He had been so lonely in his previous incarnation, observing people but never starting any friendships, going through the motions of helping humans but never cultivating the serious relationships he could have had. So when he met Martha at hospital, he'd jumped at the chance to beg her to stay after his regeneration.

One trip had turned into two, then three, over the past few months. They treated each other like polite acquaintances (which of course they were,) but the Doctor secretly relished every minute of it. It had all turned sour when they encountered the Master. He had threatened them on his rise to the Ministry, sending a false distress call to the Doctor and Martha when they had just finished an adventure in outer space. The evil Time Lord had taken Martha's family to serve him because they had worked at the Prime Minister's mansion in various types of jobs.

Martha had saved the Doctor from the Master's trap, and he in turn had saved her and her family, but she returned to them, not giving the Time Lord one bit of gratitude, but instead barraging him with insults about how her family would never have been harmed if he had left well enough alone and had not asked her to travel with him. The end result was that the Master, the only living being who could have bonded mentally with him, died before he could regenerate. The Doctor, not being able to bring himself to cremate his former friend, had decided to give the Master a decent burial in a mausoleum.

The Gallifreyan got up from his chair and tossed another log onto the fire, stoking the dying embers. As he returned to his chair moments later, he offered a voiceless wish that he could help _one _single, solitary soul, and in the process, confirm his dwindling hope that not all beings in the universe were beyond redemption (or at least, gratitude).

His stomachs signaled their hunger suddenly. He figured he at least owed himself some reward for saving Earth and decided on chips from a real London shop. The Doctor walked to his console room and programmed the TARDIS for London.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Thirty minutes later in a restaurant in London…)

The Doctor let the hot, salty goodness of his last chip go slowly down his throat. He took in the sights, smells, and sounds of the planet he had once loved. A fight had developed in the back of the restaurant, but the Doctor decided not to get involved. He drank a big glass of water and glanced at the telly hanging over the bar area.

…"In other news, a marked rise in mental patients has gripped the 'Shadie Brook Rest Home' outside of Powell Estates recently. Our news correspondent talked to one of the doctors there, Dr. Joseph Lincoln…" an African British news anchor was saying.

The Doctor looked at the screen, his interest piqued. The camera cut to Doctor Lincoln, a non-descript, lean man in his fifties. Dr. Lincoln was saying, "…I don't understand this at all! We've never had as many come in here as we have in the past few months…it's almost like an epidemic!"

"Are there any commonalities amongst them?" the news correspondent wanted to know.

Dr. Lincoln nodded, confirming, "Some. The victims all appear to be male, and for some reason, they natter on or sing about flowers, particularly roses. We don't know why, but we are investigating."

"Do you think this could, in fact, _be_ the beginning of an epidemic of some kind in the near future?" the news correspondent asked.

"Perhaps I misspoke. It isn't likely. We probably just have more patients because of a full moon, or something, but I think it's safe to say that there's no cause for alarm. I believe we will get to the bottom of whatever's causing this, and put a stop to it," the Doctor at the facility said.

"What about the other information the authorities are furnishing, that the patients came from the Powell Estates area near there?" the correspondent was saying. "Could there be something in that area that is causing these patients to develop mental problems?"

"Perhaps, but I am not at liberty to say until the investigation is concluded," Lincoln replied smoothly.

"Could the rise in patients cause the populace there any harm?" the news man was asking.

Dr. Lincoln shook his head, saying, "We have the best facilities around for keeping our patients behind lock and key. Anyway, this group of patients don't seem particularly interested in harming anyone according to my preliminary findings…this group are more afraid of the flowers I mentioned rather than of people, it seems."

"So, no need to tell the residents of Powell Estates to be careful or, perhaps, set up a curfew?" the correspondent wanted to know.

"Not at this time…though if something should change, we'll keep everyone informed," the physician assured the viewers.

The news correspondent nodded, turning back to the camera and saying, "We'll keep you up to date on this disturbing story. In other news…"

The Doctor sidled up to the bar and sat down by where the bartender was serving drinks. _At last, some people who might need my help! _He thought joyfully. He placed some pound notes on the bar and as the bartender asked what the Doctor wanted, the Time Lord replied, "information. I want to know where the 'Shadie Brook Rest Home' might be."

The bartender looked at the pound notes and put them swiftly in his pocket. "'Can't miss that one…biggest thing here outside of Powell Estates," the bartender answered, writing down some directions and handing them to the Doctor. The Time Lord took them, and then walked outside.

XXXXXXXX

The young receptionist stared at the pinstriped young man in front of her. He was too skinny to be attractive, she decided. She liked her men big, like that bloke her mother had gone on about in the States—Arnold-something. But she was trained to be friendly, unattractive man or no, so she fixed the Doctor with an award winning grin.

"May I help you sir?" she asked.

The Doctor smiled back, saying, "You certainly can." He proffered the psychic paper from his pocket and showed the girl. _Doctor John Smith, Psychiatrist, Eaddingham Court, London, UK, _was on the false ID.

"I'll see if Doctor Baker is able to assist you," she said. After a moment, Dr. Baker came out. His pale grey eyes raked over the Doctor and the psychic card he showed, then he nodded in a greeting.

"Doctor Smith," he said, "delighted to have you here." His heavy footsteps echoed down the corridor. "I understood however that a group of psychiatrists would be coming to investigate the tidings on the telly today."

"Yes, well, sometimes we like to also send an initial representative before the actual contingent converges on your little clinic here. Makes the patients less nervous than seeing a whole group of doctors, wouldn't you agree?" the Doctor asked, raising a brow.

Dr. Baker's chubby face nodded his agreement. He ran his hand through his brown wavy hair to keep it out of his eyes as he said, "Yes, quite right. Don't want to antagonize anyone."

"I'm most interested in that lot you said came from the Powell Estates area," the Doctor murmured.

"Why them, in particular?" Dr. Baker wanted to know.

"Well, if there _is _something in that area of London that's affecting them, I think we doctors ought to know about it before the media hounds catch wind of it, right?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes, I think you're right," Dr. Baker replied. They walked on through the freshly painted, white corridors. Baker chatted amicably about the facilities, the grounds, and the breakthroughs being experimented with for mental patients. The Doctor listened patiently, waiting for any clues he could seize on. As they neared Jimmy Stone's room, the Doctor peered at him. He trained his hearing on Jimmy and the words he seemed to be muttering. The Doctor started walking, but then stopped as he felt the faintest of mental murmurs from the man in the room. His eyes widened as he sensed something.

"If you don't mind, Doctor Baker, I would love to see this one," the Doctor said. He walked up to the door and looked through the bars.

Jimmy was quietly rocking back and forth, not looking at the two doctors at first. When he turned toward the Doctor and Dr. Baker, his eyes became dull, unblinking.

"Ring around the rosies…" he started singing. Jimmy rocked again, then sang the next verses. When he reached the last line, "ashes, ashes, we all fall down," he fell against the bed, silent.

"I don't know, Doctor Smith," Dr. Baker was saying, "We just brought him in, and he might be unable to really answer any questions since we had to sedate him."

"Oh, I dunno…" the Doctor said, "you'd be surprised what I could get from patients nowadays. I'm known as Doctor Open Up where I'm from, 'cause I put patients so at ease they want to open up to me. I promise I won't disturb him."

Dr. Baker ran his hand through his wavy hair yet again, saying dubiously, "well, all right." He opened the door, starting to walk in with the Doctor.

"I think, Doctor Baker, that we should be left alone. As you pointed out, he is sedated, so he won't give me any problem, correct?" the Doctor asked. "Besides, I'm sure you're very busy in your rounds, aren't you?"

Doctor Baker still looked doubtful, but then nodded, saying, "If you need me, I won't be far." He left the Doctor and Jimmy alone.

The Doctor walked cautiously over to the bed where Jimmy lay and leaned in close to the young man. "Now, then...what's going on with you?" the Doctor asked.

Outside of the room, Rose observed the Time Lord and her latest victim. She adjusted the phony coke bottle glasses she was wearing and went down the hall to the women's bathroom. Inside, the young woman activated her cell phone.

"Speak," the Master's voice commanded.

"He's talking to Stone," Rose told her sovereign.

"Just as I thought he would," the Master said coldly. "He's so predictable."

"I still don't quite understand how that is going to lead the Doctor to us," Rose said.

"You'll see, child, you'll see," the Master told Rose. "Now, observe, but don't get too close…at least, not yet."

"As you wish," Rose said, ending the call. She slipped the cell phone back into the pocket of the medical coat she wore and left the bathroom.

Inside the room, the Doctor reached out, careful not to disturb Jimmy's mind, but trying to ascertain the mental trace of energy he'd felt earlier. As the mental trace solidified, the Doctor gasped.

"A Time Lady?" the Doctor asked, his brows furrowing with confusion. "But that's _impossible!_" He looked at Jimmy, who still stared ahead of him, into space.

"They're all dead, and yet, the energy signature's unmistakable," the Time Lord murmured.

He took a seat on the floor beside Jimmy's bed, saying, "You sang about roses, like the other patients, I'll wager. What do roses mean to you?"

Jimmy's eyes turned on the Doctor's. He whispered slowly, "Roses?"

"Yes…roses," the Doctor said again. "What about them?"

Jimmy started tossing, his movements becoming more agitated. "Roses…ROSES!" he shouted.

"I'm here to help you," the Doctor said, "if you'll just…"

But Jimmy had started screaming. Dr. Baker and a team of orderlies burst into the room. Baker gave Jimmy a shot. As he calmed down, Dr. Baker turned angry eyes on the Doctor.

"What the hell did you _do?!" _Dr.Baker accused.

"I just wanted to know about the roses," the Doctor said. He studied Jimmy, who was whispering, "Rose." Before the Doctor could get any more information, Jimmy slipped into unconsciousness. Doctor Baker crossed over to Jimmy's bed, lifting one of his eyelids.

"He's resting comfortably, thank goodness," Dr. Baker said. He motioned for the orderlies to wait outside but told the Doctor, "You'd better come with me." They walked outside in front of the orderlies, the Doctor behind the physician's bulk.

"Strange…" the Doctor said thoughtfully. He removed his glasses from his pocket and put them on, saying, "He started talking about roses in an abstract sense, but then his last word was about a single rose. I wonder why?"

"Maybe he lost consciousness before he could finish the word, how should I know?!" Baker cried exasperated. "All I _do_ know is that if you are able to totally upset a patient after spending two minutes with him, we don't need that kind of trouble at this facility!"

"I'm terribly sorry about all this…" the Doctor began, walking on ahead of Dr. Baker and his attendants. They strode to keep up as the Doctor moved faster down the corridor.

"Hey, wait!" Dr. Baker cried.

The Doctor walked up to Pete Tyler's room, listening. He could also hear Pete murmuring something about roses and rocking back and forth. He also heard the word "daughter". The physician's attendants grabbed the Doctor's arms.

"Come on, let's go," one attendant said.

"I really didn't mean to shake things up," the Doctor apologized. "Don't you think, though, we should discuss this in a civilized manner?"

The attendants pushed the Doctor neatly out of the front door of the Rest Home. He had started to go to the back to reenter the building when he bumped into a woman in a pink knee length dress.

"Excuse me…" she said. As she walked off, the Doctor sensed the same energy signature as the one he'd felt before. The woman crossed the street; the Time Lord followed.

"Miss!" the Doctor cried. "Miss! Wait a second!" He ran after the woman; she was not too far ahead. Rose rounded a corner, disappearing just out of the Doctor's sight. The Doctor turned the same corner, not seeing her at first, but then was rewarded with a hot pink blur. He continued on, weaving through the crowds of people on the London streets. As they both reached a more sparsely populated area of the city, the Doctor saw that the woman had stopped.

He stood behind her, asking, "'Scuse me, but I need to talk to you about something."

"Oh, we'll have many minutes to talk about several somethings, Doctor…" she said. The Doctor felt a jabbing pain in his right leg all of a sudden, and then slumped to the ground as he lost consciousness.

XXXXXXXX

On board the Master's TARDIS, the Doctor's eyelids fluttered several moments later. He was in another TARDIS, he knew, but he wondered if he was hallucinating. His eyes, not quite focusing, became aware of a blur of color in the otherwise colorless room. As his vision grew clearer, the Doctor saw a pair of midnight blue eyes stare at him in triumph and hatred. The pinstriped Time Lord suddenly felt the energy of a force field around him. He tried to escape, but received a jolt of electricity and a wave of pain for his efforts. The Gallifreyan heard an evil laugh and breathed a name he never thought he'd say again.

"Koschei," the 900-year-old benevolent Time Lord said.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

**A/N: First, thanks so much for all who reviewed, and for the ones who marked my story as either an "alert" or a "favorite". You readers inspire me! **

**When we last left our players, Rose had injected the Doctor and the Master came into the room in his TARDIS to view his captive who is imprisoned inside a force field.**

"_Koschei," the 900-year-old benevolent Time Lord said._

"You _recognized _me!" the Master mock-praised. "And here I thought I'd have to wear a name tag."

"How…?" the Doctor asked.

The Master came close to the force field and snarled softly, "You of all Time Lords should know that, like the proverbial Phoenix, I rise from the ashes. Of course, if you _had _turned me into ashes by cremating me, I might not be here. I am eternally grateful." Koschei stepped back, bowing to the Doctor in a teasing gesture.

"In fact, Theta, I am so grateful, I'm going to do something for you," the Master continued.

"What? Give me a quick and painless death as opposed to a slow one?" the Doctor returned.

"Actually…" the Master told the Doctor, "I'm not going to do anything." He stepped back from the force field, letting the Doctor see Rose walking calmly toward him.

"You!" the Doctor called. "You were the one I was chasing! You knocked me out with a hypo, didn't you?" Rose nodded, coming closer. She and the Doctor stared at each other for a long moment, sizing each other up. He was caught off guard by her beautiful hazel eyes. As he lost himself in them, the pinstriped Time Lord felt her presence just for a second in his mind; it was enough to make him reach out, to see what she wanted. Suddenly, the Doctor felt the connection sever. He looked past Rose to see the Master smiling a superior grin.

"Not yet," he breathed.

"Why not?" Rose asked, upset at being so rudely interrupted.

The Master cruelly snatched Rose away from the Doctor's force field prison, saying, "I _said _'not yet', my pet. That's all you need to know right now." Though the malevolent Time Lord's words were spoken softly, his tone told Rose he would not tolerate any disobedience.

Rose sighed, saying, "Whatever…" She reluctantly withdrew, casting one last look at the Doctor before she left.

"All right, Koschei," the Doctor said when they were alone. "What is going on here? I felt her signature, that much is sure, but how is that possible, since all of the Time Ladies on our planet are dead?"

The Master hopped up on a vacant medical table and said, "Why don't you tell me? You were always good at guessing!"

The Doctor thought a moment, then mused, "If she is a Time Lady, she could be one of some who were not on our home world when it blew…"

"Could be," the Master replied, not giving anything away.

"Or, maybe, she is part of a race of beings who have a similar signature…" the Doctor muttered.

"Perhaps," Koschei replied, watching his prisoner intently.

"But although I felt a signature, her memories were vague. It was almost as if they were…I dunno…distant second hand memories, the type someone has of being told about an event or happening, but not from the intimacy of having had it happen to them," the benevolent Time Lord said.

"Are we actually _on_ to something?" Koschei breathed.

"But in order for that to happen, someone had to give her those memories, those happenings, and from what I saw, since they were memories of the Time War on Gallifrey, if she wasn't a part of it, only you, or I, could have given her those remembrances," the imprisoned Time Lord conjectured.

"And?" the Master prompted.

"Since _I_ never met her before today, the likely suspect has to be you," the Doctor said.

"Dare I believe that after centuries of tangling with each other, you have actually grown a brain as superior as my own?" the Master jested cruelly. He then waved off that notion, saying, "nah!"

"Why did you give her memories of the Time War?" the Doctor wanted to know. "What have you done with her?"

The Master frowned, saying, "I've grown tired of this conversation." He got off of the medical table and walked toward the door, saying over his shoulder, "Feel free to ruminate on your own!" Koschei left the Doctor alone, switching off the lights as he departed.

The Doctor reached inside his pocket and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He tried various settings to free himself but after several moments, slumped down, momentarily defeated.

_Koschei's TARDIS, I need your help, _the Doctor thought. When he heard nothing, he tried again. _Please, you must help me escape._

_Not possible, _the harsh male voice of the Master's TARDIS replied. _He wishes for you to remain._

_But surely you can see this is wrong. You wouldn't have imprisoned another Time Lord on Gallifrey, would you? I am one of your own kind! You must set me free! _The Doctor mentally projected.

_I will not! _The male TARDIS thought back decisively. _The Master wants me to restrain you, and here you will stay, until he bids me otherwise! This conversation is over! _

The Doctor felt a jolt of electricity, not enough to severely injure him; just enough to get the Master's TARDIS's point across.

"You won't win," he heard in the dark room. The Doctor trained his superior vision to see Rose walking toward him. She turned on the light so that the Time Lord could make out her slender frame.

"Oh, it's you," he said. "Aren't you afraid your boyfriend will scold you again and send you to your room?"

Rose shook her head, saying, "he's not my boyfriend."

"What is he to you, then?" the Doctor wanted to know. "Your lover? Husband? Friend?" He paused to consider his last guess, commenting, "Actually, he couldn't be your friend. Bloke doesn't _have _any mates, does he?"

"Do you always talk a mile a minute like this?" Rose asked, fascinated despite herself.

"Yeah, seems as though this incarnation of me does," the Doctor answered. "Used to drive me barmy at first, but now, it's really rather neat, don't you think?"

"I think it's rather tedious," Rose admitted honestly.

"At least you're truthful," the Doctor replied, fixing Rose with a little grin.

Rose could swear she felt her hearts beat faster. Was it also slightly warmer where she stood? What was it about this skinny, freckle-faced, brown haired Time Lord that attracted her for some reason? She smiled back for a quick second, but then frowned.

"Charming me won't work," Rose ground out.

"Oh, I don't know," the Doctor said, running his fingers through his hair. "Might work. Many a woman's told me they think I'm attractive. Not that I go for the physical too much," he added.

"Really?" Rose asked, her tone changing, her voice lowering. Her eyes grew cold as she regarded him. "Perhaps I can change your mind," she purred. "We could have a go at each other. You could find out more about me. That's what you want, innit?"

"You _do_ interest me," the Doctor responded. He felt the force field dissolve, and felt Rose's arms encircle his shoulders. The Doctor gently pushed her arms away.

"You don't interest me _that _way, though," he chided softly, hoping that she wouldn't see he was lying through his teeth.

"You're a _man," _Rose said derisively. "What other way is there?"

"You seem to have antagonistic feelings towards the opposite sex," the Doctor mused. He considered Rose for a moment before asking, "I wonder why?"

"That's what all men want," Rose snarled. "They just want to use me for shagging, or for whatever they can get."

The Doctor felt waves of pity for the girl. Rose stared at him suddenly; her hazel eyes twitching. Before he could find out more about her, she reactivated the force field, her expression changing to one of anger as though she thought she had imparted too much information and wanted nothing more than to hide behind her defensive mask.

"My Master was _right_ about you!" Rose accused. "I could see it in his mind when my mind touched his! His thoughts told me you were dangerous, and I didn't believe them!"

Rose backed away from the benevolent Time Lord, her eyes never leaving him as she felt the wall for the door. She fled the room as if it and she were on fire. The newly created Time Lady sought out the one person who could explain the insane man that was the Doctor.

XXXXXX

Rose found the Master inputting landing destinations into his computer.

"Help me!" the girl implored him, a troubled look on her face.

"With what?" Koschei asked, not regarding her.

"With the Doctor," Rose begged. "He's different…dangerous!"

"He's insane, and a Time Lord," the Master replied calmly. "A deadly combination."

"But the voices told me he wouldn't present a threat. The voices said to take him!" Rose asserted.

The Master stopped his calculations and regarded her before he said, "The voices were wrong this time. Now you know that I was thinking of the problems you would face draining him before you were ready for such a challenge."

"So what do I do?" Rose almost wailed. "I need sustenance, and I thought he was supposed to provide it."

"And he will," the Master confirmed, "but first, he must be broken. Once that happens, you can feed all you want on him." The Master reached out to Rose, letting her take his hand. She came, eagerly putting her hand in his, and feeding on his mental energy.

He said, "Enjoy your meal, my pet."

Rose let the calming turbulence of her Master's mind settle over her. The voices were once again righted in her mind; her purpose was clear, her cravings were satisfied, for the moment.

The Master broke off his provisioning as he always did before Rose had a chance to absorb too much. As she mewled in a mild protest, the evil Time Lord set his rotor for their next destination. When the TARDIS landed, the Master stepped out first, saying over his shoulder, "tell me, my dear, have you ever tasted a whole _colony_ of males before?"

Rose salivated at having so many male meals in one day. "No," she said, a crazed look in her eyes.

The Master chuckled, saying, "you're in for a treat: the happy meal to end all happy meals!" Rose skipped outside the TARDIS; the Master hanging back for a moment as he mentally touched the Doctor's thoughts.

_I bid you farewell for a moment, Theta, _Koschei thought. _My pet needs to feed._

_Feed? Feed on what? _The Doctor thought back. The Master exited, letting the frustration of the Doctor build in the dark room. The Doctor reached inside his pockets once more, looking for something, _anything, _he could use to escape and stop whatever plans Koschei and his consort were hatching. He brought all of his mental powers to bear on the Master's TARDIS. If he could distract the ship, he could break the force field, get out, and help the beings on the planet.

His chocolate brown eyes widened as impressions from the Master began flooding his mind. The cry of agony from one victim as the young Time Lady gleefully tortured him told the Doctor he had to act fast. Time was running out.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER SEVEN

**A/N: When we last left our players, the Doctor was trapped in the Master's TARDIS in a force bubble; the Master and Rose are on a planet of males, and they are torturing them. The Doctor, feeling the victims' sensations via a mental link the Master is sending him (just for a sick, twisted thrill), knows he must escape to help them….**

_**His chocolate brown eyes widened as impressions from the Master began flooding his mind. The cry of agony from one victim as the young Time Lady gleefully tortured him told the Doctor he had to act fast. Time was running out. **_

_Koschei's TARDIS, listen to me, _the Doctor thought.

_What is it you want__** this**__ time? _The Master's TARDIS mentally replied.

_You know, as well as I do, that a TARDIS is more than just a Time Lord's slave. You have a mind, a will, of your own. Resist him! Free me! _The Doctor started negotiating.

For a moment, he heard nothing, then…_What do you have to trade in exchange for my help? _The Master's TARDIS asked.

_If Koschei does have you on some sort of leash, I will do everything in my power to help you break free of his control, _the Doctor mentally promised.

_NO!! _The Master's TARDIS screamed. _It is a trick, an illusion! You only need me to release you so that you can harm him. That, I will not permit!_

_If you know anything about me, _the Doctor almost pleaded, _you know I would never willingly harm Koschei. He was my friend. I will do anything to rehabilitate him._

_You will destroy him! I know it! _The Master's TARDIS cried in the Doctor's mind. _DO NOT BOTHER ME AGAIN!!_

The Doctor's eyes misted over with sadness. He ended his thought transmissions. He felt a twinge of pain as he considered what he would have to do to escape, and the discomfort it would cause the Master's ship. In a way, the Master's TARDIS was as much a victim as those on the planet they were on. As the next death throws of the next victim could be heard in his mind courtesy of the Master, the Doctor had an idea!

"Snap, crackle and pop!" he cried triumphantly, aiming the Master's brainwaves at the ship. The Master's TARDIS cried out inside the Doctor's mind; he could feel its screams as it fought to distance itself from the mental onslaught. The ship aimed its laser in the direction of its prisoner, struggling to cease the mental distraction. While it fought to regain control, the Doctor saw that the force bubble opened slightly—not enough to completely dissolve, but more than enough for him to walk through. He ran to the emergency control panel on the wall and, using the sonic screwdriver, disabled it and the Master's TARDISes thought processes.

_I'm so sorry _the Doctor apologized to the ship as it stopped screaming in his mind, stunned into inertia for a long moment. The Doctor went out, hoping that the Master and his young protégé had not killed too many of the planet's inhabitants.

XXXXXXXX

The Master watched Rose as she drained another victim they found for her to feed on. He wished he could completely bond with her as she fed, but that would not do. If he allowed that, she could, in time, subject him to her will. He would never let her see that level of her power. So he settled for releasing a small percentage of his mind to her, just as he would only let her feel part of the Doctor's mind until his enemy was completely broken.

His thoughts flew to his captive fellow Time Lord. He was preparing to send the latest mental transmission of the latest victim to the Doctor's mind when the Master realized something was horribly wrong. He frowned, cutting off Rose's feast once more.

"You know, I'm really getting tired of this," she protested. "You never let me completely feed anymore!"

The Master was so wrapped up in his thoughts of the Doctor that he didn't hear her. "I can't feel him…he's escaped!" the Master yelled angrily. He grabbed Rose's arm and tugged her away from her latest feed.

"How do you know?" Rose almost snapped. "He could be dead." A pair of angry, intense, crazy blue eyes turned on her.

"And me not feel his cries of anguish in my mind?" the Master chided, shaking his head. "No, I know him too well! He is _coming_, and we must be prepared!" Grabbing the man Rose had been cut off from, the Master looked into his eyes.

"Have you finished with this one, or is he not completely drained?" the Master asked.

"He isn't," Rose said tiredly. "I only had just started on him when you cut me off."

The Master stared at the man, willing him to be calm. His eyes lit up with fiendish glee as he knew how he could use him and the others Rose had drained.

XXXXXXXXX

The Doctor came to a small city not too far from where the Master's TARDIS had landed. He had felt the Master's thought-trail earlier, and knew he was on the right track. The buildings in the city were shaped primarily like hourglasses, or triangles, their brick fronts dull and non descript. Very few people were about; the dark pink sky and the green moon overhead signaled that it was night time. The Doctor's keen sense of time told him that it was somewhere close to the dinner hour, or slightly later.

He kept following the trail, hoping by Rassilon that he wouldn't lose it, and then saw a man walking down the street. Catching up to him, the Doctor cried, "Pardon me…"

The man turned around. He was dressed in a simple top resembling a jumper. It was a dark brown, almost 20th-century-Earth style jumper, and he had olive green pants. Although he resembled a human, his eyes were pink, with white pupils. His dark, almost black hair was slicked back, and his brows twitched with curiosity.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Hello. I was wondering if you could tell me what this place is, and where I might find some acquaintances who traveled this way?" the Doctor asked. He thrust out a hand, saying, "I'm the Doctor, by the way."

The man's fingers, four on each hand, took the Doctor's hand between two of his fingers in a hand shake greeting.

"I am Vole," the man said in harsh tones. He looked at the Doctor's eyes, commenting, "You are a stranger here."

"Yes, I am," the Doctor said, "and I am wondering where here is."

"Here is here…the compound on the planet Tarn," Vole replied. "You are looking for fellow strangers?"

"Yes, have you seen them?" the Doctor wanted to know. "One was tall and had piercing blue eyes and dark brown hair; the other was somewhat shorter, with blonde hair and a pink outfit."

Vole shook his head, responding, "I have not seen two like that." He walked toward one of the hourglass buildings, saying, "Besides, there wouldn't be any strangers like that here. No one ever comes here, except to purchase food and the like. This is a supply planet, not a place people choose to relax on."

"Oh, welll," the Doctor said slowly, thrusting his hands into his pockets, "these people are very special. Innocuous planets are their specialty!"

"You mock my world?" Vole asked, annoyed.

The Doctor shook his head, saying, "Nope!"

Vole continued onward; the Doctor followed. "There is only one station they would visit," Vole replied, indicating the door of the biggest hourglass edifice. "It is this one, the only one off worlders are allowed in."

"Ahhh, and why is that?" the Doctor wanted to know. Vole let the Doctor into the front entrance.

"It is the one with the most supplies," the Tarnian told the Gallifreyan. They walked right into a hallway, where Vole switched on a light. The Doctor strode ahead to a massive room stocked with cans of food, including meats, vegetables, fruits, and fruit drinks. They were stocked up to the very tall ceiling, and they were labeled with hourglass shaped symbols.

"You wouldn't happen to have bananas here, would you?" the Doctor asked hopefully.

"Bananas?" Vole echoed, his brows drawing together in confusion. "what are they?"

"Never mind," the Doctor answered. "Is anyone in charge here?" He looked around, but could see no one.

"Yes, there is the controller in the office upstairs. I will tell him you are here," Vole told the Doctor. He left the room as the Doctor investigated. He knew the trail of the Master and his student ended somewhere in the vicinity. He hoped that, by Rassilon, he would find them before they enslaved or annihilated too many aliens. He left the supply room and walked down the hallway.

As he neared another storage area that was marked with the symbols of Tarn, the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to open the portal to see what was inside. The door slid open to reveal some units containing a vaporous substance in glass tubes. The Time Lord put his tongue to one of the tubes, wishing his TARDIS were there so that it could translate what the gaseous substance was. He jerked his tongue back suddenly, wincing at the practically frozen temperature.

"Some kind of variation of Freon gas?" he wondered. He sniffed the air, letting his nose confirm his hypothesis. He turned toward another portal on the far side of the room, his nose indicating there was something else nearby; something that didn't smell good. After opening the door, the benevolent Time Lord saw several figures lying on the ground. Walking to one, the Doctor checked for any vital signs. He found that although the aliens were unconscious, they were still alive. The Doctor wondered if the gasses in the chamber could have knocked them out. A cursory examination with the sonic screwdriver revealed something the Doctor had not considered.

He glanced back to see if Vole had returned when a murmur caught his attention. The Gallifreyan went over to a Tarnian who had regained consciousness and was struggling to stand up.

"Don't move," the Doctor cautioned.

The Tarnian's voice was a mere whisper as the Doctor strained to hear him. He murmured something in the Doctor's ear, then collapsed, unconscious for a second time.

The door slid open to reveal Vole, who stared at the Tarnians on the ground. He looked up, horrified, at the Doctor.

"What happened to them? Are they dead?" Vole asked.

"No, but they're drained of all their physical and mental energy." the Doctor finished. He indicated the Tarnian who had whispered to him. He was breathing rapidly. The Time Lord touched him briefly, and he slumbered peacefully.

"The two you are looking for?" Vole wanted to know, "might they have something to do with this?"

The Doctor started to answer, but heard some other voices in the outer hall. The door slid open to reveal four uniformed Tarnians. They burst into the room where the Doctor and Vole were.

One of them, slightly shorter than the Doctor, ordered, "Grab him!"

The Doctor held up his hands in surrender, inquiring, "Now uniformed Tarnians, can't we talk about this?" He thrust his hands into his pockets suddenly.

The leader of the Doctor's accusers stepped forward, saying, "You will stay where you are!"

"Oh, right!" the Doctor replied. He grabbed the sonic screwdriver inside his pocket and, feeling the activation switch, turned it on.

"TAKE YOUR HANDS OUT OF YOUR POCKETS IMMEDIATELY!!" another uniformed Tarnian ordered harshly.

The Gallifreyan took his hands out, showing that nothing was in them. "Yes, sir," he said contritely. "By the way, I have superior hearing. You really don't have to shout."

Another held up a blaster, gesturing for Vole to step back. He tried to protest, but the Doctor shook his head, not wanting the Tarnian to be injured. When he was out of the way, the Doctor peered at his captors, querying, "What now?"

"Arrest him!" another uniformed Tarnian said.

The Doctor's eyes flew to one of the dimly lit lights hanging overhead, its mass the same size as a huge chandelier on Earth. After checking the weight of the lights so that no one would be seriously hurt, he looked again at the Tarnians.

"For what crime?" the Doctor inquired. "Your fellow Tarnians are not dead, merely drained of their energy."

"And you are the one who did this!" one guard accused. To the other guards, he ordered, "Take him to the holding station!"

"Oh, _really?_ Would love to go there, except that I still have to save the inhabitants of this planet, which means, I have to catch the _real _criminals, which means…" he paused for dramatic emphasis, before he whipped his sonic screwdriver from its hiding place down his shirt sleeve and aimed it at the wire holding the light.

"Gotta go, save the day, an' all that!" he exclaimed as his would-be captors were pinned under the light. The uniformed officers murmured, and then collapsed into a stunned silence.

With Vole's assistance, the Gallifreyan dragged the officers into room he'd vacated. He used the sonic screwdriver to jam the lock. Another door opened from the back and a fellow Tarnian entered.

Vole said to the Doctor, "This is my brother." His facial features were identical, but rather than the hot pink eyes Vole had, he had salmon pink eyes. The eyes peered at the Doctor with suspicion.

"What's your name?" the Doctor wanted to know.

"Kole," the man answered.

"Right, Kole, nice to meet you," the Doctor replied, adding, "I'm the Doctor, by the way."

He didn't shake Kole's hand as he had Vole's as he walked out.

"Doctor, where are we going?" Vole asked. The Doctor jammed the lock Kole had entered through, then returned to the room where the drained Tarnians were.

"Were you able to contact the controller?" the Time Lord asked Vole. He shook his head.

"No, he wasn't in his office," Vole replied, "but I did leave a message."

"Helluva time to be taking a tea break," the Doctor muttered. He glanced at Kole, saying, "Are you a medical doctor, perchance? We've got to help them."

Kole bent to examine the Tarnian the Doctor had scanned earlier. "I am a medical transporter, and I have some training," he told the Gallifreyan. After examining his fellow Tarnian, Kole said, "We need to stabilize them with a cooling substance in the supply room next door. Once we do that, they should be all right until we can get medical attention for them, that is, if the controller allows it."

The Doctor frowned, querying, "You mean, he might not get doctors to help them?"

Vole responded, "Tarn is very much on a tarnak system. It means that, since our medical doctors and technologies are very low, only the most severe cases are attended to first unless the controller, otherwise known as the 'One In Charge' gives prior approval."

The Doctor looked disgusted as he commented, "On Earth, that's called 'triage'. Didn't like that policy there, like it even less here."

Vole activated a panel on the wall. Some tables slid out from a small opening in it. Together, they arranged the Tarnians on the tables.

"You mentioned earlier that they were drained, Doctor," Vole said.

"Yes, their synapses indicated that the part of their brains that supplies cellular energy was depleted," the Doctor told him. "By the way, what does 'raynok' mean?"

Kole answered, "It is a flower. It is the only flower that grows on the planet. Why?"

"One of those men told me that before he passed out again," the Doctor muttered. "What does it look like?"

"It is red, sometimes pink or yellow, with petals, and it grows wild with sharp protrusions on its stem," Vole responded.

"Roses," the Doctor said softly.

"What?" Kole asked. The Doctor waved him off, his mind focused on a different question.

"How many supply rooms are here in this building?" the Doctor asked.

"There are five," Vole answered. "I and my incapacitated coworkers are in charge of them. I take care of the food, coolants, fuel, and other supplies."

"The one I looked at earlier, would he respond favorably to a stimulant produced by the coolant in the tanks in the room to the right?" the Doctor questioned.

"He and the others should," Kole replied. "We were adapted to utilize the fuels and other energy sources we look after here in small doses in our bodies."

The Doctor thought a moment, then inquired, "That might do until medical help arrives. What other kinds of energy do you have here?"

"We have petra, volumn, pantum…" Kole replied.

"Pantum?" the Doctor queried, his ears twitching. "You have pantum energy here?"

"Of course," Vole told the Time Lord.

"Where do you keep it?" the Doctor asked.

"Why do you wish to know?" Kole queried suspiciously.

"The two strangers I told Vole about might head in that direction," the Doctor answered.

"Strangers?" Kole asked. "Perhaps you should reveal all to me."

"I don't think I should. Better for me to go off on my own and all that," the Doctor said. "Now, where is it?"

Vole looked around to see that the coast was clear before he whispered, "This way…"

"Why are you leading him there, brother?" Kole asked. "He wishes to leave us behind once he sees the fuel station! He said he wants to be on his own! He does not care about our injured!" His eyes shot daggers at the Time Lord as he snarled, "I don't trust you!"

"If you don't trust me, then why are you _with_ me?" the Doctor asked, raising a brow.

"I am with you," Kole practically snarled, "to prevent you from stealing the pantum energy!"

"And if you're wrong, the two I'm looking for will get away," the Doctor argued calmly. "Want that to happen, do you?"

Kole frowned, unable to come up with a suitable reply. They made their way into another room, this one larger than the last. The Doctor glanced at the tanks, which had green, slimy, gelatinous liquid resembling brake fluid in them. He knew that he had found the pantum energy chamber.

Pantum energy was a very valuable substance to Gallifreyan TARDISes. The Doctor learned at the Academy that the highly unstable yet immensely useful energy was necessary to keep the thought processes of TARDISes normal during trips in the void. It served as a mental energy salve, preventing the living ships from going insane when dealing with the many different time lines and the spatial paths required to reach them. The Doctor knew that, more than likely, the Master and his partner-in-crime would stop there after his student had had her meal since the Doctor confused the Master's TARDIS when he escaped. The evil Time Lord would eventually want to "borrow" some of the energy before risking any more temporal trips. He also knew that if the Master knew about the pantum fuel, he could capture him and his pupil before they harmed too many victims.

The Doctor's ever active mind was on triple overdrive as he pondered the questions surrounding the Master's mistress. Was she a creature who fed on the fuel too somehow? Was she, despite her seeming Time Lady signature, a robot of some kind who was also capable of cloaking herself? How and why was she with the Master? He wished he had some concrete answers to go with his many questions about the mysterious young woman.

"What makes you think I want it?" the Doctor asked finally.

"I saw the way you looked at it," Kole spat, holding up a weapon.

"Brother!" Vole protested. "He only wants to find some strangers he lost! He doesn't intend to steal the fuel!"

"I shall believe that when I don't see it gone!" Kole shouted. "How do I know this is not some trick to gain access?"

"To answer your question, this is not a trick because I would not have sought your help in finding the two who probably wish to steal your fuel," the Doctor defended, adding mentally, _to say nothing of hurting your people._

"What would you need with it?" Kole bit back. "The only ones who need that fuel are people who travel in TARDISes, and other Time Travel ships!"

Vole stared at the Doctor hard. His eyes became as wide as saucers as he hit upon a realization. "Are you a Time Traveler?" he asked.

"If I am?" the Doctor questioned back.

"Then you are a Time Lord," Vole suggested, looking to the Doctor for confirmation.

"Perhaps," the Doctor replied glibly.

"If you are, then the ones you are looking for may be, too," Kole said.

"And…?" the Doctor prompted. "I'm all ears."

Vole turned to Kole, saying, "Then, brother, if he is a Time Lord, the fuel is rightfully theirs to begin with. Remember, the Ones In Charge employed us to keep it safe for travelers like him!"

"He could be a criminal who travels through time, not a Time Lord," Kole argued back. "I have seen some Time Lords in their visits here; he does not resemble them! They are more stately in their dress than he is!"

The Doctor ran his fingers through his hair, saying, "Welll…it is rather a long story about my fellow Time Lords. I'd love to tell you it when there is more time, but right now…"

Just then, the lock the Doctor had jimmied grew red hot. He whispered to the two Tarnians, "Time to decide: do you turn me in, or do you trust me? Your choice, but either way, I am going to get help, and find those two strangers."

The door flew open. The Tarnians the Doctor had stunned emerged, holding up weapons. "Halt, or we will fire!" one screamed.

"_Run!" _the Doctor shouted. Kole and Vole raced out the back door, down the hall and up some stairs at the end of it. The Doctor ran in the opposite direction as the guards gave chase. He tugged open the door to the food storage station and before some guards caught up with him, he used his screwdriver to open up a panel with some wires. When the guards entered, each searching for the Time Lord, the Doctor connected the wires making the doors shut tight after he escaped. As the guards banged on the door and tried to blast their way out, the Doctor ran up the stairs, searching for the One in Charge's office on the floor above.

He found the brothers nearby. Vole tugged on the Doctor's arm, saying, "I do not hear the guards yet. Here is the office of the One in Charge! We will be safe with here!"

Vole looked back at his brother, advising, "At least let him decide about the Doctor's intentions!" Kole nodded as they burst into the office.

"What is the meaning of this?!" an older Tarnian shouted. Unlike the brothers, this one had a dark business suit out of Earth's 20th century. His hair was more unkempt, and it was a lighter brown. His eyes were a blue based red, with the white pupils of the Tarnian race.

"Hello, Mr…" the Doctor greeted, pausing to look at the nameplate on the alien's desk. "Sarna. I am the Doctor, and I need your help in apprehending two fugitives who have been making a mess of things."

"Speak, alien," Sarna instructed, "how did they exactly mess things up?"

"Some of your people have been relieved of their strength via telepathic contact," the Doctor answered. "Now, assuming you Tarnians are not capable of that power, the source can only be from the fellow travelers I am looking for."

"Assuming you are correct, how do I know I can trust you?" Sarna asked.

"Actually, you just have to take my word for it," the Doctor told him. "Also, I would send a medical team to check their vital signs. I have come across this before. If they are not treated soon, they could become mentally deranged, or at the very least, mentally challenged."

Sarna pressed a button on his desk. When a voice answered, he summoned a medical team to the gas storage station after verifying the Tarnians' whereabouts from the Doctor.

"What is your role in all of this?" Sarna asked the Doctor.

"I only wish to help you," the Doctor answered.

He started to give a description of the Master and his student, but the Tarnian leader cut him off, saying, "You don't need to concern yourself. I have heard about those two that you speak of. I am The Second to the One in Charge, and my guards will handle everything after I brief them on what has happened."

"Great!" the Doctor replied. Sarna led them into a room adjoining his office, saying, "I'll send for my guards right away and call off their hunt for you. Together, we will search for the miscreants and if they are guilty, we will bring them to justice." Sarna left the room.

The Doctor waited impatiently for Sarna and the guards to return. He was rocking back and forth, as Vole commented, "Relax, Doctor. Sarna will find the guards and take care of this situation."

"I wonder," the Time Lord mused, taking his glasses out of his pocket and chewing on them thoughtfully.

"Did you notice that he never wanted me to give their names or vital descriptions? Not only that, why didn't he mention the possible theft of the pantum energy?" the Doctor asked the brothers. "Rather odd behavior, don't you think?"

Kole shrugged, saying, "But he said he had heard about them."

"And that's another thing," the Doctor went on, ignoring Kole's comment. "Why would he need to _fetch _his guards? Why not sound a general _alarm_, or something?"

The Doctor went over to the door and tested the lock. It was not locked. He went through Sarna's office and out into the hall. "I don't think we should be here when they return," he said. The trio exited into the hall. They did not get very far as Sarna, the Master, Rose, and some guards returned, blocking their escape.

"So, Doctor, you wish to see the One in Charge. That would be me," the Master replied calmly.

"I figured you'd say that," the Doctor said equally as calmly. In front of the trio, Sarna and the guards' expressions grew blank. The Master regarded the rival Time Lord.

"You don't seem surprised," he asserted, looking at the Doctor's knowing gaze.

"To quote Shakespeare," the Doctor started, then amended, "well, myself, actually, 'I know you of old.'"

"And I know you," the Master said derisively. "I knew you'd think I would come for the pantum energy, so I arranged all this."

"You weren't after it?" the Doctor asked, perplexed. The Master looked at the Tarnians, commanding them to withdraw and to forget everything with the exception of Sarna before addressing the Doctor. The Tarnians, including the two brothers, left the Time Lords and Lady presently.

"Not at first, although I am grateful to you for showing me where it is," the evil Time Lord said, grinning. To Sarna, he whispered, "bring me the Pantum." Sarna left to do the Master's bidding.

"You won't get away with stealing it," the Doctor said. "I'll stop you!"

"Really?" the Master asked. "'Pull the other one', I believe the humans say. Just how will you stop me when you'll be too engaged trying to stop my pet?" He caressed Rose's cheek. The Doctor looked as she purred, turning her face toward him.

Koschei went on, saying, "You see, my lovely consort here must feed on a regular schedule. This planet was the perfect place for that: off the beaten path, a place where no one would ask too many questions if some of its inhabitants were to become mentally unstable, and…" the Master paused, as Sarna returned. He told the Doctor with triumph gleaming in his eyes, "Thanks to you, I get _two_ prizes rather than _one_!" He held up the tube with the fuel in it, brandishing it in front of his enemy.

"Forget everything you heard," he commanded Sarna, "and leave us." Sarna left, his mind totally blank until he reached the hall. When he did, and the guards came in answer to his summons, Sarna led them to the storage room where some medically trained Tarnians who had joined the deputy leader assisted the injured.

"Perhaps we should adjourn to my ship," the Master said, flicking a device in his pocket. He, his student, and the Doctor were transported back to Koschei's TARDIS instantly in the medical area.

The Master looked at Rose, who licked her lips in anticipation. Rose's eyes locked on the Doctor's, her expression resembling a wolf before it devours its prey. The Doctor found that he couldn't move. He was bewitched by her hazel eyes.

"I've come around to your way of thinking, my pet," the Master said.

She caressed him, asking in the Master's mind, _Now?_

"_Yes, now!"_ Koschei mentally told his fellow Time Lady. The Doctor looked at Rose, feeling their minds merging with each other. The Master's enemy tried to break free of her bonding with him, but Rose had him spellbound.

"You see, herr Doctor," the Master said jeeringly, "my pet feeds on mental energy as I am sure you suspected, but I couldn't very well let her feed on you right away. You would have seized the advantage when she wasn't strong enough. Now that she has fed on some Tarnians, she will have the power necessary to drain you!"

"Me?!" the Doctor cried. He felt his strength ebbing as Rose continued her attack.

"Ooohh…this one's just as good as _you!" _she squealed in delight to Koschei.

"Enjoy, my Queen, but don't kill him just yet," the Master instructed. Rose nodded, going into the Doctor's thoughts. As the Doctor and Rose's thoughts began to intertwine, he heard the voices who were her constant companions in her head in his mind. The voices grew louder and louder, culminating in a mind-deafening crescendo.

The Master looked on as, inside his mind, the Doctor screamed.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

**A/N: Weelll, Rose and the Master have the Doctor exactly where they want him, or do they?**

_**Inside his mind, the Doctor screamed.**_

Rose's lips twisted into a sneer that mimicked Koschei's as she continued her assault on the Doctor's mind. She could feel his energy draining, experience her mind and body getting stronger. The Master smiled, thinking how succulent it was to finally beat his worst enemy. He remembered how, even in the Academy for Young Time Lords on Gallifrey, the Doctor had always gotten the upper hand. Oh, he had excelled at his temporal studies, even to achieving the highest honors, but when push came to shove, everyone wanted to be with his colorful friend, Theta. Practically from moment one, when he and the Doctor had left the incubation rooms on their sixth birthdays, everyone followed Theta around but they didn't do that with the Master.

To add insult to bloody injury, he soon became known as either, "that friend of Theta's", or "Theta's _yas'tr'uaum", _which was Old High Gallifreyan for "companion", and he was always in the goody two shoes' shadow. The Doctor never knew, of course, how Koschei had felt. The Master was always good at hiding things, even from his parental units. Oh, some knew that he was crazy, but his hatred of the Doctor and all of the attention Theta received was enough to drive _anyone_ insane. So, whenever Theta wasn't paying attention, Koschei was always getting him into trouble and, typical of the Doctor, Theta always bailed the Master out of it, cementing the evil Time Lord's contempt even more.

The final salvo had been fired when Theta had unwittingly began bonding himself with a Time Lady the Master fancied. He remembered Lisitraniarlamarda, the way she defiantly didn't give either of them the time of day (unless it was in the pursuit of academic studies concerning the measuring of precise minutes and seconds of time, that is.) Theta had been captivated by her mind, as was Koschei. She was one of the highest ranking telepaths on the planet, and her political connections were second-to-none. Lisi, as she was known to her fellow classmates, was also quite attractive.

She was blonde, blue eyed, and had a tight, little chest. She didn't just walk in her robes—she _glided, _never missing a step unlike many of the girls he and Theta had attended the Academy with. Her voice was cultured, sophisticated, inter-planetary, and she had revolutionary ideas about becoming involved in the activities of those planets the Time Lords studied. In time, he and Theta had pushed past her indifference and had found the woman underneath. But for the malevolent Time Lord, what had started out as a dream ended as a nightmare. The Master remembered the last conversation they'd had shortly before he left Gallifrey.

"_But why won't you be my b'no'nau?" Koschei had asked._ _"Why won't you bond with me?"_

"_It isn't that I won't bond with you," Lisi had told him_, "_but I can only do it as your friend, not as your Lives-mate. In short, I cannot make the Oath of Declaration with you."_

"_Why?" Koschei pressed. He led her to the silver lake in the district they lived in and sat beside her on the orange and brown ground. It seemed as though just as his hearts were breaking over the ultimate betrayal, the sky overhead was preparing to rain. _

"_I have decided to be with another," _Lisi said gently. _"It is an eligible match."_

"_And __**we **__are __**not?" **_Koschei roared. "_I have status, connections…you __**presume **__to tell me which match is suitable?!" He stood up from her, his dark hair blowing in the breeze that was fast becoming a storm._

"_I touched your mind briefly," Lisi responded. "I saw your cruelty. I saw how you treated Theta for no good reason, and all he ever wanted was to be your friend."_

_Koschei grimaced; his next request was filled with contempt. "Could we leave him out of this just once?" He spat. Lisi sadly shook her head._

"_I cannot," she said simply, reaching out and stroking Koschei's arm._

_He stared at her, his dark eyes burrowing into her; his mind invading hers even as he cloaked his presence in it. "So, __**that's **__it!" He exclaimed as he released his intrusion into her thoughts. He pushed away from her, stomping away as the first rains fell._

_Koschei found Theta reading a book on Temporal Physics in the secondary Library in Professor Ardunok's study. He angrily snatched the book from Theta's hands._

"_Just what do you think you are doing?!" Theta demanded. "I need to study for a final tomorrow!"_

"_Just tell me one thing!" Koschei demanded. At Theta's confused frown, he continued, saying, "Did you agree to Lisi's Oath of Declaration? Did you confirm that you would be her Lives-mate?"_

_Theta regarded him silently, then protested, "I don't see what business it is of yours that I am her Lives-mate. But if you __**must**__ know, yes, I did."_

_For a moment, all time stopped for the two of them, then Koschei did something unexpected. He smiled, a nice, warm, genuine smile. "Forgive me, Theta," he said solemnly. "I wish you well in your courting."_

"_Thanks, old friend," Theta responded, his annoyance forgotten. He enveloped his closest friend in a hug. Looking over Theta's shoulder, Koschei grimaced, his eyes filling with rage as he determined how to damn the pair….  
_

The Master's thoughts returned to the present. Koschei could see his enemy twisting and turning as the pain the Doctor felt trying to resist the Master's pupil increased with every breath. The Doctor focused on his assailant. She was powerful, he had to admit, and she had gone deeper than anyone involved in his lives before. Not even Koschei had gotten in so far. He knew that he had to fight her, to stop her, but part of him didn't want to. Despite her invasion, he had been isolated from his people for so long, and although she was insane, she was nowhere near as bad as the Master. He wanted, needed, _craved_ more from her. He was in pain, but wasn't that where the deepest ecstasy came from?

The Doctor reached out just as he had tried to before. He could feel her emotions, which were incredibly intense for a Gallifreyan. On his planet, Time Lords and Ladies in particular were told to shield their emotions from others, partially because, if they should bond with other telepaths, the intensity of the exchange of feelings could burn both minds irreparably. Even if that didn't occur, a Time Lord or Lady lived so long, practically forever, but the beings they might bond with would more than likely not live beyond a very short span of years. Being emotionally detached insured that there would be minimal anguish suffered when the Significant Other in a Time Lord's or Lady's life withered from old age and died.

For that reason, Time Lords and Ladies were taught almost as soon as they were out of the incubation chambers to shield their emotions from all beings, even themselves. Along with Temporal Lessons, which spanned hundreds of years, the Lessons of Control were drummed into the future Masters and Mistresses of Time with great care and precision.

Too bad the Doctor had been a failure as a student in Lessons of Control. He never could shield his feelings, at least not to the level of his fellow classmen and women. He always cared a little too much, for his family, his friends on Gallifrey, and the many traveling companions he had picked up after he'd left his home. Oh, he'd talked a good game to the humans and humanoids he'd traveled with, much to their chagrin sometimes, but the truth was, he always cried inside just a little when a friend either left, or died. He tried to accept the excuse that he was doing them, and himself, a favor. They would want a normal life anyway, with marriage and children and domesticity. He told himself that when they died centuries before he did, the agony of loneliness would destroy him. Rather than dealing with the hearts' ache, he would beat them to the punch by separating on his own terms before things became too emotionally complicated.

Yes, he'd talked a good game, and preached a good lesson, but he somehow never believed his own sermon. That was why, at times like this, he couldn't understand the Time Lords picking him to end the Time War. They could have selected a foot soldier, or maybe even reprogrammed the Raston robots to leave the Death Zone and end the existence of so many. He would have taken his rightful place as a martyr for the Cause. But in the final analysis, he knew as they did that he was the only one who needed to live so that the Universe could exist, and so that whatever beings bent on destruction who were out there would not win.

It was this conclusion that urged him to fight her, fight Rose. _Rose, _he thought. _So __**that's**__ what the Tarnian had meant, and why those men at Shadie Brook talked about roses. An apt name for a beautiful flower with thorns, _he mentally decided. Rose's torture of him had gone on long enough. It was time to pluck the thorns out.

The Doctor stared at Rose, giving her a taste of the Oncoming Storm. Rose's face contorted with fury, then with frustration as she felt the link dissolve.

"Damnation!" She shouted.

"Something's wrong, pet?" the Master asked, truly not knowing for the first time what had happened.

The Time Lady pointed accusingly at the Doctor, whose breaths were labored as he closed his eyes and entered a healing trance. "He severed the link!" she shouted. "He's as bad as _you _are!"

"I told you so before," the Master replied calmly, feeling no ill will at Rose's outburst.

"I was to break him!" She howled, leaving the Doctor's side.

"Consider this a challenge," the Master said, adding, "though I think you did some damage." His dark eyes raked over the Doctor's facial features. They went between being contorted in pain, then subsiding with a peaceful expression.

_Excellent, _Koschei thought. He savored the next time his star pupil would strip away his enemy's mind.

"He's trying to heal himself from the effects of your penetration," Koschei said.

Rose glanced at the good Gallifreyan, seeing an angelic look on the Doctor's face. He had regained control of his mind, it seemed. For the first time in her life, she wondered what he was thinking, and more importantly wondered why she cared. The young Time Lady studied her King just then, but for some inexplicable reason, she felt the slightest stirrings of what the Doctor experienced whenever he looked into the Master: some anger, some revulsion, and something she had not felt in a long time: pity.

Koschei glanced at Rose. He saw the same emotion on Rose's face that Lisi had shown him centuries before. He hated it, hated pity; hated empathy with a passion.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Koschei asked, his voice soft and deadly. Rose decided to answer him with a question.

"He stayed until the end, and you ran," Rose commented. "Why? You never revealed why you ran."

"Does it matter?" the Master spat, his stance hostile. "He decided to aid those that were already lost! The War was finished; the Daleks had won! He chose to stay to honor and bury the dead before the final flames reached his TARDIS. That was unnecessary!"

"Who is Lisi?" she asked. The Master's eyes looked as though they were ready to burn his pupil on the spot. After a moment, he smiled a cold grin.

"She is not someone I wish to talk about," he said, his eyes telling her that he would tolerate no further discussion about Lisi.

"Why was it unnecessary?" Rose asked, changing the subject.

The Master peered at his pet, his arrogance dropping for a very brief moment. _Et tu, mon fleur? _He thought. His mind returned to a different time, a different place.

"_Theta, I came as soon as I heard," Koschei said, his eyes filled with sorrow. Theta put some sha'shi'ri flowers on Lisi's grave, his blue eyes filling with tears._

"_I just…don't understand it!" The benevolent Time Lord said, running his hands through his hair. "She was only 130! How does anyone die of a hearts' attack at 130?"_

_Koschei put a companionable hand on his enemy's shoulder, saying sadly, "Some people just have weak hearts. You know that. No matter what the scientists say, there is no way one can guard against everything!"_

_Theta mulled that over saying, "You're right, of course." He forced a smile as he said to the future Master, "You are my best friend. You're always here for me."_

_Koschei gave the future Doctor a long, searching look, his words sounding as if they were from far away. "Just remember that I will always be there for you…."_

"I am always there for every moment, Doctor," the Master said softly, his tone jeering, as the memory dissolved. He realized that Rose was waiting for an answer.

"The dead are already dead, and therefore, should be of no consequence," the Master said to his student. "I have never looked back. _That's_ why I survive."

Koschei regarded the sleeping Doctor. The Master sneered,_ "He _always cared a little too much. That is why he will pay the ultimate price!"

"You said something about not betraying you when we first met," Rose pressed. "Did _she _betray you?"

The Master shouted, "Yes, she did!" His eyes fell on the Doctor once again as he said in a faraway sounding voice, "She left me to be with him! _Him _of all Time Lords!" Rose looked on as he accused, "_He stole her from me!"_

Rose's eyes fell on the Doctor. She had pegged him right the first time: he looked like an angel, but the Master reminded her just now how even the most handsome angels could hide a devil beneath the surface. The Master's arch enemy was just like all of the other men she had known. He would use her and consume her until there was nothing left, and damn anyone who was stupid enough to fall into his trap! Well, _she _would not be stupid like Lisi had been. _She _would not abandon the only man who had ever cared for her.

She knew that she had to help Koschei. He had suffered so much at the hands of his foe and the traitorous Time Lady Lisi. Rose would not add to what her King had endured. It was fortuitous, she thought, that the Master had told her the truth about the Doctor. She was even more determined to achieve her ultimate goal: the Doctor's death by her own two hands.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER NINE

**A/N: The relationship between the Doctor and Rose heats up, and realizations are made. **

_**She was even more determined to achieve her ultimate goal: the Doctor's death by **__**her own two hands.**_

XXXXXXXX

Rose flounced into her meditation chamber, her energies rapidly depleting. The Master had left her, as he often did, to go to meditate in his own chamber for at least an hour. It was a process, he had explained when he was training her, that Time Lords and Ladies utilized to rejuvenate themselves, and to gather their thoughts. The evil Time Lord tuned out his consort and everything around him, preparing himself for the next encounter with his prisoner.

In her separate chamber, Rose's frustration was palpable that night. She didn't understand what was happening to her; normally, she didn't require as many feedings in a day, but since she had touched the Doctor's thoughts, she felt as though she had not eaten in a month. She wondered if the Doctor somehow had a mental shield against any type of mental invasion. If so, Rose had to come up with a plan to beat it. To do that, she needed all of her mental powers to be at their peak before their next bonding session.

The young Time Lady let her mind drift. She concentrated on the Center of Control, the place where she felt the most comfortable, the place where she connected most with the voices. For her, the voices kept her grounded, kept her focused. Rose hummed, the song like a chant, to summon the voices. She closed her eyes, telling herself to keep her mind blank.

Her thoughts returned to the brown suited Time Lord who seemed to be consuming her feelings on a regular basis. It seemed that even her Master's mental patterns didn't arouse her the way the Doctor's had. The more she wanted to resist him and just focus on the task of draining him, the more she also wanted to know, as humans said, what made him tick.

_What is he doing to me? _She mentally wondered. The other questions swam through her brain, most particularly the number one question on her mind: why did the Doctor take Lisi away from her Master if they were friends?

She rose off the ground, feeling herself merge with the universe that she felt so connected with. She floated through Time, through Space, not corporeal any longer, yet not quite a spirit either. Rose drifted, looking down at those heavenly bodies she had traveled to with Koschei, at those subjects she had taken to sustain herself, a Goddess among worshippers; a superior being among inferiors.

"Pretty view from up here, eh?" a voice said. Rose gasped as she saw the owner of the voice. He was an older man, with snowy white hair, and an Edwardian frock coat. His voice contained an ageless authority and brooked no arguments in its tone.

"Who are you?" Rose wanted to know.

"Someone who has your best interests at heart, young woman," the old man said. They floated together, silent for several moments.

"You're one of my voices," Rose said imperiously.

"Perhaps," the old man said cryptically, "or maybe something more." His eyes took on a calculating expression as he inquired, "Tell me: that young man you seem so intent on torturing. Why do you wish to? What has he done to merit such a thing?"

Rose opened her mouth to answer, but the old man continued, "Oh, I know you have to feed. You are a mental energy vampire, of sorts, but it seems more personal where he is concerned, hmm?"

"I fail to see what business it is of yours," Rose replied hotly, repeating, "An' who are you, anyway?"

"He is, as am I, someone who wishes to see justice done," another voice, belonging to a man who looked a little like the poet Byron, said. His ginger curls blew in the wind as he flew on the other side of her.

"That one is not your enemy," a third voice, this one belonging to a man dressed in a ruffled blouse and an Opera jacket said, flying beside the Byronic looking man.

Rose landed on one of the distant stars she had been flying by. It was uninhabited. The clouds in the skies were raging by, but there was no rain, only an intense wind. Although the wind blew her hair and clothes, and those of the three strange men, she didn't feel cold. She also, for one of the first times in her life, didn't feel threatened like she often did in the presence of the opposite sex.

"You three, are you his guardian angels?" Rose asked, facing them.

"In a manner of speaking," the old man said. "You have committed a grievous offense, young lady."

"You have fed on an innocent soul," the Byronic man accused, "or, at least one who means you no harm."

"He didn't harm _me," _Rose agreed, "but he harmed my Master, and he must pay for that!" She looked at the trio angrily. A fourth man in Cricketer garb materialized by the other three.

"So certain, are we?" he asked, tsk-tsking at her. "Your loyalty is admirable, but your reasoning that he is harmful is reckless."

"Why don't you put your questions to him?" Another man was questioning her. He had blue green eyes and baggy trousers.

"Why should I?" Rose wanted to know. "He lied to get what he wanted; he could lie again!"

"Or, you really aren't searching deep enough for the truth," another man in curly reddish brown hair and a scarf said. "Not very wise," he commented.

"Maybe you're afraid to find out that once, just once, you could be wrong about him?" another man, this one wearing a battered leather jacket suggested, his accent sounding like it came from Northern England.

"NO!!" Rose shouted, covering her ears. "I _know _my sovereign liege! He would _never_ lie about stealing another man's Lives-mate!"

"You could be right, but would you want to take the risk? Just remember, the truth always comes out in one way or another," another man said, wearing a coat of many colors, his curly blond hair not blowing despite the fierce wind.

Another man with a Scottish accent materialized. He advised, "You're so intent on bonding with him, why not offer a carrot instead of a prick?"

"That's _stick," _the man with the scarf whispered. The Scottish man paid him no mind as he regarded the young Time Lady.

"Ask him to explain; he might surprise you," Scottish man said, fading away.

"But how will I…?" Rose queried, actually believing all of the men in her dream like state.

"Your hearts will tell you," the Leather Clad Man replied, fading. They all faded away as Rose found herself alone in her meditation chamber. Her brows furrowed with confusion. She didn't know who the men were that had visited her, but she knew that somehow, they made sense. The newly created Time Lady decided to get some answers.

XXXXXXXXX

Later that night, as Rose touched minds with the Master in his meditation chamber, Koschei chided softly, "You are disturbed. You aren't experiencing the joy of bonding with me like you usually do."

When Rose didn't answer, the Master pressed, "Is it the Doctor?"

Rose gripped his arm as they floated together, as though that would calm her, but nothing did. "He confuses me…" she confessed. "I looked into his thoughts about Lisi, and it seems as though you stole her from him."

"You are thinking too hard," Koschei told her matter-of-factly. "I told you the truth about him. You must allow yourself not to be corrupted. He's very crafty, and in his sick, twisted mind, he painted himself as the victim where she is concerned. You must not take what he transmits to you to heart. He will say or do anything to be free, even to the level of taking the facts and twisting the truth for his own ends. Remember: _we_ are the rulers of all…_the_ Deities of Time, and he, for all of his talk, is just an insect biting on our heels."

Rose raised a brow, saying, "But isn't he a Time Lord like you are? Doesn't that make him a Deity of Time as well?"

"_He is a __**usurper**__! A pretentious demi-God not fit to share the same space with us!" _the Master roared. "Believe me, you will be better off once his mind has been taken from him!"

Rose was instantly contrite. She hated to see the Master distressed; hated to see him angry. She kept her mind shielded, but decided that she would make a special trip on his behalf later that evening. Obviously, the voices she had heard earlier were a trick of her mind, or of the Doctor's thoughts inside her, to gain her sympathy. But Rose told herself she would not fall for that. They floated for a time, lost in their own thoughts. When the pair landed on the ground, Rose turned his face to hers, and kissed him on his lips.

"That was for…?" he asked.

"For my mistake," she answered softly. "I promise you, this business with the Doctor will be concluded, one way or the other!"

XXXXXXXX

Some time later, Koschei took a rare turn sleeping. When she was certain he was in a deep slumber, Rose went to the Master's prized weapons collection room. She cast a furtive glance around the hallway to make sure he couldn't see what she was doing and, satisfied after a moment, let herself in. The evil Time Lady's eyes scanned the room, searching for the right device to avenge her King. After looking at various knives, swords, and scimitars, Rose spied the glass case on the wall with the rapier in it. She unlocked the case with the key she had appropriated from the Master's nightstand and held the cool blade in her hands.

The sword felt light as she swung it in the air. Rose lunged forward, picturing the older Time Lord's hearts at the end of it. Of course, she reasoned, just killing him wouldn't be satisfying. The former human fantasized instead about the Doctor, mortally wounded, begging for her to end his lives as she fed on him.

_So much more satisfying, _Rose thought.

She saw him pleading, mentally beseeching her to release him, but then the image changed. The evil Time Lady saw him writhing beneath her, their minds touching, but their bodies, too—his naked torso locked with hers, his hands roaming until she cried out, begging for him to satisfy her. She pictured them in another TARDIS, traveling through the stars together, not enemies, but friends, lovers. Rose violently shook her fantasies away.

_What's __**wrong **__with me?! _She thought.

As Rose grabbed another rapier, she focused only on killing the crazy Time Lord. Her feet swiftly took her to the medical area where the Doctor lay captive.

Before she opened the portal, Rose paused for a moment, weighing the consequences for her actions. She knew her ruler might be angry with her—his moods were so mercurial—but eventually her King would forgive her, acknowledging that this solution was best.

_He might even commend me for my_ _deed,_ she thought happily.

XXXXXXXXXX

The Doctor lay on the table quietly, thinking about his ship, and wondering how the TARDIS was. He had not seen her for almost seventy one point three hours by his calculations. The separation from the old girl was wearing thin on him; his already agitated state was becoming more frazzled by the minute. To add insult to injury, his sonic screwdriver was no longer with him. Somehow, when he was unconscious, the instrument had been taken—probably by Koschei—and placed on the table at the far end of the room.

The benevolent Time Lord was considering how best to undo the restraints he had been bound with when he heard the door slide open. Rose walked in, her eyes blazing with murder in them, her stance hostile. The Doctor likened the fiery young woman as a lioness or a brave warrior going into battle. If they had not been enemies, he reasoned, he would have taken her as his Temporary mate, his _tas'sa's'try_.

On his home planet, there had been Lives mates, as Lisi would have been had she lived, or there were _tas'sa's'tries_, Time Ladies which were not mentally paired through marital means, but who were more like prescribed girlfriends. Although it was more the norm to have only one Lives mate, there had been discreet forms of the other type of bonding, particularly if a Time Lord or Lady did not have any mate designed through genetic conditioning for him or her. After Lisi's death, the Doctor had a _tas'sa's'try, _a woman whom he married with the exchange of words, but not in thoughts. They had had a comfortable relationship and mutual respect for each other, but the more deeply attuned relationship he would have had with Lisi was what he truly craved.

He wondered in his many travels if he would ever have such an intimate union again. His mind saw Lisi as they shared a brief courtship together, each of them whispering plans of joining their thoughts to each other. He remembered chasing her down one of the many silver hills where the grass was iridescent, her blonde hair blowing in the cool wind, and how he had swung her over and over again in his arms. But before his mind could summon up another memory, Lisi's image changed into another blonde haired maiden, her pink lips lighting up with a smile, _the _smile that was his and his alone.

She whispered his name, then whispered his other name, _Theta, _over and over again in his thoughts, as he thought _Rhy'ana, _("Rose") to her….So lost was he in his fantasizing about Rose that he did not see her approaching, her look menacing. She concealed two objects behind her back.

"I would have thought you would devote your time to escaping," she said in a low voice.

_Rhy'ana? _He thought. When he beheld the look on Rose's face, the Doctor cleared his mind and jerked his head to the determined young woman.

"Who says I haven't?" he asked aloud. "I've been thinking of a way to leave here, if you must know."

Rose peered at him suspiciously, saying, "Assuming that's true, why would you tell me?"

If the Time Lord could have, he would have shrugged. "Weelll," he said, "I couldn't very well keep it from you. As you said, the Master would have corrected his ship's mistake earlier, and you wouldn't let me get far, either."

His eyes fell on her hands behind her back.

"What have you got behind you?" the Doctor, ever curious, wanted to know.

A swinging object sliced the benevolent Time Lord's bonds. The Doctor jumped off the table. Rose tossed a rapier to him, saying, "You have one chance to defend yourself!"

As they circled each other, he challenged, "Why not just run me through my hearts?"

"Because that would be too quick! I want you to suffer," Rose answered, executing a perfect fencing move. The Doctor retaliated, blocking her attack with a perfect move of his own.

"You'll die for your deceit!" She snapped, jabbing at the older Time Lord.

The Doctor wondered what she meant, but he responded "_So_ not on my to do list," sidestepping a move by Rose so that her sword swished in the empty air. The Doctor's sword and hers clashed above their heads.

"Not bad," he admitted as they circled each other again. "Koschei taught you well." Mischief danced in his eyes for a moment as they parried and lunged, each defeating the other's moves in perfect symmetry.

"You're too dangerous to be kept alive, even for me to feast on!" Rose concluded. She swung two more times, but the Doctor either clashed with her sword or jumped out of the way.

"And how would your Monarch feel about that?" the Doctor yelled. "He'd take exception to your destroying me before he gets a chance!"

Rose tried summoning up enough energy to mentally pummel him with even as she jabbed at him with her rapier, but she found that she was still weak.

"_Sha'sti'ca!" _she cursed in Gallifreyan.

"Such a foul word coming from a nice young Lady," the Doctor ridiculed, their swords clashing. "Perhaps I should wash your mouth out with soap or give you a spanking."

"Is that a threat or a promise of pleasures to come?" Rose bit back.

"Don't flatter yourself," the Doctor said. "Only a _do'ck'ta'nok'tri _would sleep with you!"

Rose's nostrils flared with anger as she realized that he had named one of the dumbest, ugliest animals in Gallifreyan history.

She screamed at him, totally livid as she snarled, "You take that back, or I promise you, your hearts _will_ be sitting in my trophy case within the hour!" She attacked with all of her might, but the Doctor easily dodged her.

They regarded each other for a moment, then he said derisively, "Oh, I'm quaking in my Converses. I assure you: I'm a lot tougher to crack than you might think! The first time, I wasn't prepared for you. Now, I am! So, do your worst, my foolish Rose."

He swiped at the Time Lady, not really connecting, since he did not want to hurt her.

When she responded with a blow that almost sliced across the Doctor's chest, he protested, "That blow seemed awfully close!"

"And does that scare you?" Rose taunted.

"Should it?" the Doctor rejoined, clashing with her sword.

She swung her rapier so that this time, it made a small incision across the Time Lord's torso. The Doctor, feeling a small amount of blood trickling down, danced about like a boxer trying to avoid a punch. He knew that he had to get the sword out of Rose's hands somehow before the next move totally destroyed him.

"I would rather feed on a dozen primitives rather than one nutter like you!" she yelled. He felt her frustration as she lunged for him. The emotional distraction evaporated as easily as it had come, but it gave the Doctor the opening he needed. He leaped to the side so that her sword became embedded in the wall in front of her.

Rose tried and tried to pull it out, but met with no success. She spun back around to see the Doctor pointing his rapier at her throat. Then, inexplicably, he threw it to the ground. The Time Lady's eyes met his for a moment; hers looking like a deer frightened by a headlight, his holding a triumphant stare.

"Since I beat you, you have to concede," the Doctor told her softly.

Before either of them could make a move, the Master snuck behind the Doctor and, using a Venusian neck pinch, temporarily paralyzed him.

The Doctor's body slumped to the floor, trying to recover from the Master's aikido move. As Koschei grabbed both swords, Rose asked her teacher, "How did you know I was here?"

The Master gave her a baleful stare. "You couldn't keep away if your life depended on it, which in point of fact, it looked like it did," he said. To his enemy, the evil Time Lord said casually, "You'll excuse me for a moment?"

When he led Rose outside, Koschei snarled, "Just what did you think you were doing?"

"I was going to kill him," she answered, her voice filled with emotion, "for you."

The Master looked at Rose with condemnation in his eyes the way a parent casts a look of disapproval at a disobedient child. "I told you I wanted to _break_ him, not _kill_ him right now," he said in a velvety, steel tinged tone.

"But…I thought you eventually wanted him dead," Rose started to protest. "You said you wanted his mind stripped from him…" One stare from her Monarch cut her off. He grabbed her arm and ground his fingers into it. The evil Time Lady mewled as pain shot through her arm.

"Let's get one thing straight, my pet," the Master declared, his voice dripping with hatred, "_when _he dies, it will be by _my _choosing, _my _command!"

He shoved her away, slamming the door shut and then locking it as Rose looked on in shock. He had gotten angry sometimes, but never had the Master looked at her with such loathing before. She sank to the floor, wondering where she had erred, needing to win back his approval.

XXXXXXXXXXX

As he reentered the med bay area, the Master stared at the man who had changed his life so drastically from the first time they'd met in the incubation nurseries. He touched the Doctor's temple, reviving him. The Doctor got up slowly, still feeling some loss of sensation in his muscles. He faced the Master warily.

"Sorry about that," Koschei apologized, "but, you know young people. Always impatient."

"Quite all right," the Doctor responded dryly. "I suppose you punished her."

"Just gave her a warning," the Master said. "She won't do that again until I tell her."

"Oh, and I suppose she'll sit up and play dead too?" the Doctor quipped. Their eyes appraised each other.

"You still look well," the Master said as though they were at a garden party. "Torture has agreed with you," the Doctor's foe teased.

The Doctor decided to play for time as the effects of the paralysis slowly wore off. "Tell me something," he calmly asked, changing the subject, "just how were you able to regenerate? I thought you'd chosen not to."

"I always was better at delaying a regeneration than you were. It seemed like every Time Lord on Gallifrey was," the Master commented.

"And yet, I've only used up ten bodies, whereas you are on your second set," the Doctor said. He made his way to the table where the sonic screwdriver was, but was rewarded with a slight shock as he felt a force field blocking him. The Master snorted as he responded to the Doctor's remark.

"At least the High Council _gave _me a second set. What did they leave you with? Nothing! No family, no new TARDIS, not even more lives! After number thirteen—a mere three more lives from now--it's all over for you, whereas I will go on," the Master jibed. The Doctor winced, turning a hurt expression on the Master; Koschei had struck a nerve. The good Time Lord forced himself to look calm.

"What did you tell your mistress?" he asked Koschei. "She was out for blood, _my blood!" _The Master smiled, chuckling softly.

"There is not a chance in hell that I would reveal anything, you know that," he told the Doctor softly.

The Doctor grew silent, thinking about the bonding he and Rose had shared. He searched his mind, looking for any information from her memories but he found very little. One thing did rise to the surface after a moment: a memory of Rose's where she fed on Pete. The Doctor thought about the first mental patient he had encountered. _Peter Tyler, _the sign had read.

"Tyler," the Doctor whispered, lost in his ruminations. He remembered the last word Pete had said before the Doctor went to Jimmy Stone's room: "daughter". The benevolent Time Lord's eyes widened as he proceeded to connect the dots concerning Rose.

"Daughter…she's Peter Tyler's daughter, isn't she?" the Doctor cried. Another piece of the puzzle began to show itself in the good Gallifreyan's mind.

Before the Master could respond, the Doctor said rapidly, "He smelled human! And he looked like her!" He paused as he gathered his thoughts. "But she is a Time Lady," he exclaimed. The Doctor seized on that as he repeated softly, "Time Lady…few memories…"

The Master sighed, bored with his enemy's reasoning. "Haven't we been down this road before?" He asked, sighing.

The Doctor's thoughts returned to the last encounter he'd had with the Master. When they'd tangled with each other, Koschei had threatened to transform some worthy humans into a small army of Time Lords and Ladies that would be under his control.

He looked at his old enemy with horror as he slowly said his next words. "You _altered _her, didn't you? She hasn't any long term memories because you restructured her mind! When you changed her into a Gallifreyan Time Lady, the memories she knew before went away, or at least most of them did! That means she must have been…" he broke off, unable to finish.

"Human?" the Master asked. He pursed his lips, casting a victorious look at the Doctor. The unflappable Time Lord was suddenly repulsed by his enemy. Koschei had really sunk to new lows, the Doctor realized. He felt a fresh stab of guilt for not having checked the mausoleum more thoroughly, guilt at not having stopped the Master before he had unleashed his fiendish plot. The Doctor felt his insides grow cold as he thought about Rose, and what that perverted excuse for a Time Lord had done. He felt the sting of anger as the Master drove his point home.

"Yes, she was human." Koschei shouted. "She was born on that speck of a planet to that pathetic, drunken man, her life going nowhere! Do you know where she would have been had I not intervened? She would have been bearing his child, or he would have killed her or tossed her aside in the streets! I saved her from oblivion! I CREATED HER, AND MADE HER THE GODDESS SHE WAS MEANT TO BE!!"

"Oh, yes," the Doctor said, his voice just as cold as the Master's, "you gave her rebirth, you controlled her mind and forced her into her current life."

Koschei shook his head. "No," he said truthfully. "I didn't influence her that way. I merely told her what I could offer: a new life, a chance for justice."

"Justice?" the Doctor spat. "Vengeance, more like! You said you didn't hypnotize her into becoming what she is, fair enough. But did you ever tell her the truth behind her creation?"

The Master said nothing as the Doctor continued: "You reprogrammed her DNA with the Chameleon Arch, didn't you? But you didn't correct everything …"

"Meaning?" the Master responded.

"The Arch was designed to turn _our_ people into humans or humanoids, not the other way around! You didn't prepare for any complications, did you? You neglected to tell her about being a mental energy vampire for the rest of her life before converting her!" the Doctor accused.

"A mere side effect," Koschei replied. "You have to have _some _errors until you reach perfection."

"A _'mere side effect'?" _The Doctor echoed, his voice dripping with disgust. "And I suppose you've disposed of every scrap of her memories, her essence, her soul! You murdered what was left of Rose Tyler!"

Koschei rolled his eyes, criticizing, "Oh, _really,_ Theta! Stop being so melodramatic! You should have been an actor instead of a Time Lord. Would have gotten great reviews!" The Master reached into his pocket and pulled out a timepiece, twirling it in his fingers.

"_This _is what's left of the old Rose Marion Tyler," the malevolent Time Lord said. The timepiece glowed, the yellow-white light therein illuminating the Gallifreyan symbols etched into its back. The Doctor saw that there were tiny beams floating out of its casing. He thought about Rose and her sad fate unless he could undo what the Master had done.

His mind came up with a possible reason behind Rose's insanity. "You also showed her the Gate of Infinity," he pronounced.

"_So_?" the Master asked snidely.

"Her newly created synapses couldn't process all of that knowledge. Like you, she went over the edge," the Doctor whispered.

The Master's only response was to yawn as the Doctor asked, his face hard and unyielding, "Did you promise that she would be your second Lieutenant, or your fellow ruler? I wonder, what will Rose do when she finds out that there are no other universes to rule except this one? How will she feel towards you when she realizes that we can't travel to other universes anymore? Oh, she can feed till she's drained everyone on every planet, but what happens then, when there are no more worlds to conquer, no more planets to rule? Soon, she will not only be a liability to you, but even a threat! Of course, she would be so far gone by then that you would have had to put her down beforehand, wouldn't you?"

Outside, Rose's ears were glued to the door as she heard the words the Doctor and the Master said. Her eyes filled with tears as the words of the "usurper" burned inside her mind. Her hearts ached as she thought about the Master possibly dismissing her, or worse, trying to destroy her. She didn't know who to believe anymore. Was the Doctor right? Had the Master lied to her about ruling all the universes, and would he kill her when she was no longer of use to him? If the Doctor had been telling the truth, what was his motivation in all of this? She listened with rapt attention.

"I would not kill her," the Master said finally.

"But you'll continue lying to her, and corrupting her!" the Doctor bit back. "Imagine! A grown Time Lord, playing with his little doll until he grows bored and looks for other toys to play with!"

"How little you know me," the Master whispered. "You accuse me, but you left your companions just as much as _she_ left me."

The Doctor pinned him with an indescribable look. Both foes didn't need to say anything to know the "she" they both spoke of. He didn't let his enemy see the profound effect Koschei's words concerning Lisi had wrought on him. "So you're telling me that you _won't_ grow tired of Rose?" he asked softly. "Suppose she decides she's tired of you?"

The Master's hands curled into angry fists. He jumped on the table, his eyes black as he let them bore into the benevolent Gallifreyan. "She will NEVER outgrow me! She will NEVER leave me! She WILL NEVER BETRAY ME!!" Koschei shrieked. He grew quiet.

"She will not be like Lisi," he said in a small, hurt voice as he left the table.

"So that's what this really _is_ about?" the Doctor queried. "You wanted to create your own Lisi to deal with the pain of losing the real one?" The Master stared at the Doctor, his face quietly desperate.

"There is no pain, only emptiness," Koschei whispered in a gravelly voice, "emptiness you have put there."

The Doctor looked at his former friend with sympathy in his eyes. What Koschei had done to Rose was wrong, and yet, he could understand the Master's logic to a point. That didn't excuse the means the Master had used to achieve his ends, however. The good Time Lord braced himself, not looking forward to being the judge and jury for what his adversary had done.

"The emptiness you have now happened before we ever knew each other, when you stared at the blackness of space, and the Void took your sanity, leaving a nothingness of its own," the Doctor diagnosed. For a moment, neither foe said anything. Then, the Master's mask of anger and hatred slipped back into place.

The Master bit back, "Oh, really? Should I use what you just said to fertilize my TARDIS's gardens?"

"You must undo this," the Doctor declared, "you must return her to what she was."

The Master crossed his arms, staring defiantly at the Doctor as he snarled, "Never!"

The Doctor's next words were filled with bleakness as he tiredly said, "If you don't change her back, then I'll have to."

Koschei considered the Doctor's words. He saw something in the benevolent Time Lord's orbs he never thought he'd see: all the scars of the Doctor's wounded psyche. After centuries, the Doctor was just as determined to control things to his own specifications, as the Master. Koschei's nemesis just went about it in a different way, using subtle charm, letting his obsession bind him to want to help at any cost, even if those he aided didn't want it.

If Koschei didn't feel so threatened, he would have actually been…what? Happy that his ex-friend was just as megalomaniacal as he was, even if the Doctor didn't know it? Jealous that the Doctor was fixated on Rose, the Time Lady who was totally Koschei's? Worried that the Doctor would create his own version of Lisi, living vicariously through Rose? He had no idea. What the evil Time Lord _did_ know was that he would not let the budding relationship between the Doctor and Rose continue.

Koschei said venomously, "You told me that I was playing. You are doing the same with her. Feel free to try and help her _if _she lets you, of course." He let his words hang between them as he walked away.

Outside the door, Rose could hear the Master's footsteps coming closer. She crept around the corner of the room, willing herself to not be noticed as he strode past. At times, she conjectured, being a vampire had its advantages, like being able to cloak oneself at will. As she thought about the Doctor's and her Master's exchange, Rose faced the inevitable truth that she had been trying to deny: that she had absorbed more than memories, or thoughts, or voices from her victims. She had absorbed emotions, too.

She felt Doctor's guilt, his regret, even his pity for the Master swarming inside her head. The Master's anger, bereavement, and beyond that his loneliness were in her thoughts, too. The young Time Lady saw her destiny at a crossroads, and she did not envy it. But it had to be accomplished. She prayed to Rassilon and whatever Gods were listening that whichever path she took, her decision was the correct one.

Her eyes darted back to the medical area. Rose knew that she had to do what the Doctor had wanted to do. She had to be the judge, deciding unilaterally once and for all who she would side with. Her stomachs turned; her mood apprehensive as she realized that whatever choice she made would not be an easy one. One of the two Time Lords could suffer irreparable damage.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

Rose entered the med bay after finally having arrived at a decision. Although her expression was calm, she was anything but inside. The young Time Lady started wavering. She had enjoyed being the Master's pet, had loved the privileges it provided. Before she had met him, she was no one special. At the hands of her father and other men, she had suffered nothing but abuse, and received nothing but pain. If she risked all to step outside of her comfort zone and she failed in her objective, where would she go? What kind of life would she have?

"You've something to say?" the Doctor queried. His eyes met hers. The benevolent Time Lord's expression was unreadable as if he were waiting for something. Rose's lips parted, but no sound came out.

"That offer you made…?" Rose wanted to know. Her eyes pinned him with a look that said that their entire future depended on his answer.

"What offer is that?" the Doctor questioned.

"You told my Master that you could change me back to my human self. Is that true? Can you do such a thing?" Rose wondered.

He replied, "Yes, I could if you wanted it. I could set you up in whatever planet was best for you. You could go to England, the US, or anywhere. You wouldn't have to go back to your former life." Rose could sense the pleading behind his determination.

Rose considered the Doctor's offer. She loved the trappings of being a Mental Energy Vampire, but by the same token, she knew that if Koschei ever discovered her newfound power to feed on emotions as well as memories, he would treat her as a pariah and end things with her. If the Doctor was correct about her teacher, if her Master was ready to slam the mental door, she wanted to be the one to walk through it first. _She_ would dictate when and on what terms their relationship would end.

Rose also wanted freedom from the constant onslaught of the voices. Where recently they had calmed her, they were now beginning to form mental maelstroms that she was finding difficult to control. She would do anything to be free of the mental hurricanes before they drowned her. She freed the Time Lord.

"Where is he?" the Doctor asked. When Rose glanced at him, he clarified, "Your Master?"

She sidestepped the question. "What about my mental…instabilities?" Rose asked hesitantly. "Would you be able to cure them?" The Doctor didn't respond right away.

"I _will_ cure you," he said with quiet conviction. His thought touched her mind just now: _I must._

"Come with me," the Doctor issued his desperate plea again, louder that time.

He scrutinized the woman before him. The Time Lord had never tried the things he was promising her, but somehow, somewhere, he knew he had to help her. So many beings in his lives either died or were ruined by his interference. He remembered his past companions, Martha, Tegan, Peri, Ace, and of course, Sarah Jane. There had been others throughout the centuries, not many, but some. Except for the occasional companions who h ad parted on favorable terms, the majority had suffered because he wasn't able to save them the way he had wanted. Here was vindication, he realized, for all of his past errors, a chance to start anew with _his _Rose, his_ Rhy'ana._ The Time Lord's mind paused at that thought. When had Rose become "his"?

_Are __**you**__ the insane one_, he questioned in his mind, _or am __**I**__?_ Rose was contemplative as she picked up the Doctor's stray thought.

"I don't know…I'm not sure about anything anymore," she muttered. The Time Lady wouldn't let the Doctor see or feel any of her doubts about him, she steadfastly decided. Rose needed to pursue her goal as a business venture; only that way, could she achieve what she wanted most.

"What about my Time Lady memories? The Time War on Gallifrey?" Rose inquired, her voice calm as though she were discussing buying a car.

The Doctor's answer was business-like now. "They would be erased once I programmed the Chameleon Arch to change you back," he replied. "Afterwards, you would, if you wished, have new memories, or I could restore your old ones."

"What about _him_?" she asked. "What about my Master? Can you help him, if he wants it?"

The Doctor sighed, feeling various things in relation to Koschei, the biggest emotion being self-damnation. He wanted to help the Master more than anything, wanted almost to the point of distraction to reconnect the friendship they'd shared, but the evil Time Lord had always been emotionally beyond the Doctor's grasp. Of all his failures, of all the ones who'd separated from him in anger or had been parted from him, the Master's leaving was the worst, even worse than Lisi's death. The desperation had gone from his face, but it still raged on inside of him. If Rose said 'no', he didn't know if he could bear it.

"I give you my word that I will do my best to help him," the Doctor replied earnestly.

"I believe you," Rose ventured softly, "but I'm not sure about becoming a human again."

"It's the nature of things…_your _nature," the Doctor responded. "You were born that way; you should die that way."

Rose stared at the man before her. She knew how she should utilize the Doctor's cooperation, but he was so trapped by his convictions that she wasn't sure she could get him to do what she wished. Would he really aid her in her plans, as opposed to his? The young Time Lady thought about what she could offer him in return for his capitulation.

"In exchange for curing me, I will do something for you in return," she said.

"Agreed," he said softly.

He let his long, elegant fingers reach out to grab hers. Rose felt the warmest comfort from the Doctor's touch. Without realizing what he was doing, the Doctor's digits massaged the back of her hand. The Time Lady felt her dual pulses thrumming with a longing she had not experienced before.

The warmth crept up her spine. As he continued to stroke her hand, moving his circular motions to her palm, she gripped his hand as though it had become a lifeline. The Time Lady's eyes raked him with an unfurling desire, a sudden desire to go with him, and damn the consequences.

The Doctor felt his pulses quicken. What had started out as a simple handshake for him was rapidly becoming a romantic encounter. He told himself it was too soon, that if they ever did get to know each other _that _way, it should be after a long time in each other's company. He should break contact, he knew that, but he didn't…_couldn't_ let go.

Rose closed her eyes, letting her mind wander. Her ruler had once stroked her palms, increasing her desire for him. What was it, she wondered mentally, about the palms on a Time Lord or Lady being an erogenous zone? She wondered if the Doctor had enticed other Time Ladies, ladies like Lisi, into his TARDIS this way? She also wondered why the thought of other women being seduced into his ship bothered her so much.

_Keep this strictly business, _she reminded herself. Rose kept repeating this mantra, careful not to let the Doctor hear it.

She decided that she needed to take control of the situation before it got out of hand. With a great effort, Rose let her fingers slip from his.

The Doctor gulped, his heartbeats returning to normal. "You said that you'd help me with something," he replied. "What?"

"I'll help you solve the circumstances behind Sarah Jane's disappearance," Rose replied. At the mention of his former companion's name, all hell broke loose. The Doctor's countenance grew stony, and his eyes were cold.

"I don't _need_ your help!" he hissed. "How _dare _you! How dare you find out about her!"

"I didn't dare anything!" Rose bounced back angrily. "Your thoughts were shouting to me the few times we bonded; your emotions almost overwhelmed me!"

When the Doctor didn't respond, she continued, "I don't know who the people you were with are, or what they meant to you, but you somehow blame yourself for their deaths, especially Sarah Jane's, and Lisi's. Face it; you need me as much as I want you."

The Doctor's anger abated as a single tear ran down his cheek. Rose felt his sadness. She reached out and, after a moment's hesitation, she stroked his arm. He looked at her, somewhat shocked at her tender gesture and at the way his hand had touched hers. The Time Lady glanced at where her hand was, then pulled it back when she realized what she had done.

"I'm not trying to hurt you," she insisted. "I know you never solved the mystery behind her vanishing, and it's eating you up inside. That's why we can help each other…"

"NO! Forget I offered!" the Doctor snapped.

Rose pulled back her sleeve, revealing a silver bracelet. The Time Lord recognized it as a _rd'lar _bracelet. Ladies on the fashion planet, Synerrah, wore them for ornamentation, but also for protection from aggressive males. The cylindrical links in them contained miniature darts, which could, depending on the emotion of any wearer, be anywhere from a mild, bee-sting like stun to instantly fatal. With the same deadly look she had sported when they'd had their sword fight, she pointed her bracelet at him.

"That's what I thought you'd say!" she yelled.

"_This_ is 'not hurting me'?!" the Doctor bounced back. "If you fire that right now in your highly agitated state, I just might regenerate, and I'm rather attached to my current body."

Rose continued holding him at bay with the bracelet but willed her anger into submission. "I don't want you dead," she told him. After a beat, the Time Lady added, "At least, not yet."

"How were you able to get that?" the Doctor queried.

"You and Koschei think you're the only ones who need weapons?" Rose asked, noting that that was the first time she had referred to Koschei in a term other than "my King" or "my Master". It didn't seem to bother her however. She remembered purchasing the bracelet when Koschei had taken her out to dinner on the stylish world. Although the Master had protested at first, Rose managed to finagle him into keeping the unique piece of jewelry eventually.

"So, you knocked the Master out with that, eh?" the Doctor responded. When Rose nodded, the Doctor replied, "Brilliant! Of course, if I removed the bracelet and used it against you…"

"I know you won't," Rose assured him. "For one thing, you don't have your sonic screwdriver to disarm me. For another, you wish to return to your TARDIS, and only I or the Master can link with this ship and keep it from attacking you so that you can use it to fly there. Like you said earlier, the little thing you did to escape has long since been corrected, and this ship will be on guard against such attempts in the future. The only way you can get out of here is either with me helping you, or with you leaving in a body bag."

To distract her from using the bracelet on him, the Doctor kept her talking. "If you are able to establish even a partial link with this ship, why can't you pilot it?" He asked.

Rose replied, "He never let me handle the controls. He promised he'd teach me, but we never got around to my first lesson in flying a TARDIS."

_Or, knowing Koschei, he didn't want to teach so that you'd overpower him and escape, _the Doctor thought, keeping his mind shielded from Rose.

The Doctor had to hand it to the Master, though; despite his failing to teach her temporal piloting, Koschei had trained her well in many things in the time the duo had been together. He glanced at the Time Lady and her jeweled weapon.

"Your arm is gonna be tired if you keep holding it aloft like that," he joked. Rose wondered again if she should simply destroy him without a preamble, but she remembered Koschei's "warning". She didn't want to be on her Master's bad side again.

"What is your decision?" Rose pressed.

The Doctor considered for a moment. If Rose really _could_ help solve the mystery behind Sarah Jane's disappearance he would be grateful to her. His mind returned to a time in 1975, a year after his fourth self had left Sarah Jane abruptly to return to Gallifrey. He had planned to say a proper good bye to her, since she was one of the few companions who meant more to him than just a casual acquaintance.

But after months of searching, his efforts had turned up nothing. Sarah had vanished without a trace. He had even thought that some alien had taken the helpless writer of romantic thrillers off world for his own reasons. Throughout his incarnations, he had tried whenever possible to trace every step he had made since that time, and had accessed every scrap of information both on and off Earth. His efforts had proved fruitless, and every day, he damned himself for it.

_If only I hadn't been called away …_his mind started the familiar litany. _If only I had done things differently, if only I had stayed with her … _

_If only, if only, if only…._His mind trailed off as he realized Rose was waiting for an answer.

"I'll need my sonic screwdriver," he explained slowly so that Rose would not be antagonized. "I need it to access certain panels."

"So you will help me?" Rose asked, lowering her bracelet.

Rose could hardly contain her joy. If the Time Lord helped her, she would return to the Master a better mistress. Koschei would never turn her away or get tired of her or even fear her after that. Whatever it took, she was determined to be at the Master's side forever. If the Doctor eliminated her vampirism, well, so much the better. If not, then good riddance to him and to his TARDIS.

The Doctor nodded, affirming, "I told you that I would make you human again."

Rose adamantly shook her head. "No!" she said. "I like my life! That's not what I want from you!" Her eyes were wide, pleading, desperate like his had been before.

"I want my vampirism cured so I can be a proper Lady of Time for him!" she entreated. "I want to come back to him so he can forgive me for all the trouble I caused when I went after you. I would do anything to get him back!"

"Correct me if I'm wrong," the Doctor told her, "but it seems to me that Koschei wouldn't take you back. Your knocking him out isn't going to win any brownie points with him."

Rose responded, "I had to render him unconscious because he'd never agree to this, and he would certainly never let you go. But I know that once you make me better I can, be the ultimate mate for him. That way, he would never want to get rid of me!"

The Doctor stared at her as if she had lost her mind (which, he reminded himself, she had). "I knew you were insane, but I never thought you were crazy," he said. "Once we leave, _if_ we leave, you can't go back to him, ever! He would kill you on sight!"

Rose said angrily, "I don't recall asking for your opinion, nor do I recall making a request!" Her mind raced as she thought of another way she could impress the Master. "You will use your sonic screwdriver to help me reprogram _this _ship to be compatible with my thought patterns so that it becomes my TARDIS! Then I'll return you to yours!" She commanded.

The Doctor shook his head, saying, "I can't. The best I can do is take you with me, but it is impossible to reprogram a TARDIS once the initial isomorphic bonding has taken place between a Time Lord or Lady and it. Maybe if the ship were in its infancy it could be done, but after centuries of being linked to the Master…"

Rose held up her weapon again. "I'm running out of patience!" She yelled.

"It's _impossible, _I tell you!" the Doctor said firmly. "For that to be done, you would need technology only Gallifreyan temporal scientists had. It's a highly specialized skill! Only 1/100th of Time Lords and Ladies possessed it! Oh, no, no, no, no, Rose, I couldn't do it! Not only that, even if I could locate a technical journal on how to do the basics, you'd have to literally take the ship apart and rewire it bit by bit. Would take centuries! The best thing we can do is try a partial memory wipe, let the ship drift through space; or we could program a sequence where Koschei's TARDIS wouldn't be able to dematerialize or rematerialize anywhere. It would, in effect, be stuck in limbo forever."

Rose's expression just then told the Doctor that it was pointless to reason with her. Her idea was a foolish one to him, and she _was _a nutter, but Koschei had been right all along about the Doctor's obsession with helping people. He could no more abandon Rose than any of the humans he had valiantly tried to assist. He also found that, although they didn't trust one another yet, he still felt a kinship of sorts with Rose now that she was Gallifreyan. He wanted her for himself, human or Time Lady, in every way possible even if he wasn't completely certain why. If she was on board his TARDIS, she could be won over by him.

"Look. I can program the Master's TARDIS temporarily so that it would be no threat to either of us. After that, we can go to my ship, and no tricks," the Time Lord suggested, trying to placate her.

Rose mulled that over as the Doctor continued.

"_But, _if I agree," he started, then pointed his finger at her as he said, "you have to _promise _me that you won't feed on every Tom, Dick and Harry we come across."

Rose crossed her arms, but in the end, she said, "Very well, but you have to agree not to let me starve. I will feed when I have to, and you shall have to provide the nourishment."

"Deal," the Doctor said, holding out his hand. After they shook hands, they made their way into the console room, where the Doctor saw the Master's inert body slumped across the metal grate. Rose started pressing some dematerialization buttons on the console and the ship presently disappeared. As it flew through the temporal void, the Doctor rummaged through Koschei's pockets, extracting the watch with Rose's consciousness therein. He placed it in his pocket, along with Koschei's laser screwdriver.

"Is the force field in the med bay area still activated?" the Doctor queried. Rose gave a negative response. She followed the Time Lord, her bracelet ready as he returned to the medical area to grab his sonic screwdriver. When they came back into the console room, Koschei was starting to stir.

"He's waking up," the Doctor said. "Can you keep him out longer?" Rose nodded. Training her thoughts to stun cycle on her bracelet, she fired a dart into his arm, feeling guilt at doing what she was to her sire. The Master slumped back into total unconsciousness, his chest rising and falling.

"Since his TARDIS is partially linked to you, I'll have to guide you in what to do," the Doctor said, moving to the control panel. Rose nodded, keeping a close watch on the benevolent Time Lord.

The Doctor set the screwdriver for the access panel, and for temporary override.

_This won't be easy, _he thought to Rose. _The ship will not allow me to interfere again. You must distract it._

Rose looked at him in silent affirmation. She aimed her bracelet at the control board, but before she could make any further moves, a minute blue beam shot out and deactivated her bracelet.

_It's inoperative! _She thought, her panic rising. _What now? _The Doctor didn't answer her. Rose's ears became aware of a popping sound which had dissipated a second later. The Doctor crossed over to one of the black hexagonal panels, oblivious to Rose's fear. He used the sonic screwdriver to undo the panel, then crossed an orange wire with a brown one.

Rose saw the ship's lights flicker on, then off, then back on again. She went over to the screen as the Doctor continued working.

OVERRIDE SEQUENCE INITIATED: COMMAND PROGRAMME ONE, the computer screen displayed. Rose punched in the override sequence the Master had given her. The Doctor was resealing the panel back in place with his sonic screwdriver.

"There now!" he crowed. "Not a bad job if I say so myself!"

"What happened?" the Time Lady asked.

"Used a sonic disruption to distract the Master's ship," the Doctor answered proudly. "The popping sound you heard just now? That was cause by an ultra high frequency which only a TARDIS will respond negatively to. It confused the ship long enough for you to affect an override."

After checking the display screen, Rose confirmed, "You should be able to pilot the TARDIS without any opposition."

"Grrrreat!" the Doctor shouted like Tony the Tiger and grinning like the proverbial Cheshire cat. He punched in a code for the world they would take Koschei to. In addition, the Time Lord opened a smaller panel on the dashboard and put one oddly shaped device in his pocket. The device was silver and shaped like a small bolt but with jutting points resembling a miniature star. He selected a green, triangular shaped device and placed it into his other pocket. Taking some rope out of his left pocket, the Doctor handed it to Rose.

"Bind him," he instructed. Using the string, Rose tied the Master's wrists together. She also tied his ankles together, although not too tightly. She hesitated for a moment, still feeling upset that she had to do this to the Master. Again, she wondered at the reason she had trouble remembering the evil Time Lord as _her _Master, rather than _the _Master.

The Doctor punched in a second code and, minutes later, the Master's TARDIS materialized on a planet. The Doctors smile widened as he noted that they'd landed in precisely the correct place and time.

"Where are we, exactly?" Rose queried. She stared at the viewing screen. It showed a barren world with red skies and dark hued, jagged peaks. The ground was also red, albeit a darker shade than the sky, which also had traces of pink in it. Clouds, golden colored, blew by at alarming speed.

"Pon'parynia," the Doctor replied. "It's a harsh world, totally devoid of any intelligent life forms. Oh, there are some animals, but nothing too fierce, more like timid rabbits, actually."

"The environment here is not _too_ harsh, I hope," Rose said. She worried about the Master being stranded here forever. What if the Doctor meant to do just that? The young Time Lady didn't know if she could live with that possibility.

"Not to worry, Rose," the Doctor assured her cheerfully. "I promise I'll give him enough supplies to live off of for awhile. But, we don't want him using any technology to either retrieve his TARDIS and escape in it too soon, or get away using a ship from this planet. That's why I brought him here."

As Rose looked on, the Doctor continued. "This world won't be colonized by any sentient life for at least 300 years, and it won't be industrialized for another 500. He won't be able to utilize any creatures to escape."

He left the console room to go to the galley for some food and water. When he had gone, Rose went to her quarters and grabbed a sack with supplies, including two weapons, one being a pen shaped weapon; the other being a second laser screwdriver. Deciding that Koschei should have some way of defending himself if he needed it Rose placed the laser screwdriver in the Master's pocket before the Doctor returned to the console room. Presently, the Doctor returned with a cooler. He opened it, taking out contents to show to Rose.

"He's got a small fishing tool," he said, putting that back inside, "and he has bread, meat, water, protein bars and seeds for growing plants which will sprout in a matter of seconds! And, of course, the most important food of all…".

"What is that?" Rose wanted to know. The Doctor held up a yellow fruit in his hands and looked at it reverently.

"Why, a banana, of course," he replied with enthusiasm. "Potassium for his hearts, sweet goodness, and such a lovely shade of yellow! Koschei will be _very _glad we included this!"

Rose's head swung back and forth and she laughed. The Doctor thought he'd never heard a more pleasant sound than her giggle.

"I take it you love bananas," Rose stated the obvious.

"Immensely!" the Doctor crowed.

"We have something in common, then," Rose replied. The Doctor smiled one of his most charming grins, and she found herself smiling back. He thrust the cooler and then a basket at her, explaining that the basket had a change of clothes in it.

"You're _sure_ that there are not any life forms here?" Rose queried, frowning. She peered once more at the screen. She could have sworn she felt a tremor of some kind, but she decided against saying anything, she could have imagined it.

"Koschei's ship didn't register any," the Doctor said. He looked at the screen and the readings once more, reading them to her. "Life forms, none, except for plant life, a few sea creatures, as well as some animals called 'rbitynes', which are the timid rabbits I spoke of earlier; technology, level one, extremely primitive; air and water, able to support Gallifreyan life…potable; winds whipping, but not at more than 30 kilometres per hour in any direction despite their fierce appearance and no hurricanes, earthquakes, or unusual floods or snows; gravity, roughly about 9.8226 to the fourth power, which is comparable with that of Earth," he commented.

Rose continued to frown. She felt…something, but it was still so faint that she wondered if she had heard the mental pulses correctly, if at all. The Doctor seemed oblivious. Together, they carried the Master's body outside to a cave not too far from Koschei's TARDIS. By the time the duo started walking back, the pulses stopped. Rose thought she needed to relax her mind. She was obviously imagining things.

"He'll be fine," the Doctor assured her. "Trust me: I know him better than you do. He has come out of worse predicaments than this, and escaped unscathed."

"Of course…" Rose responded absently. She entered the console room first, followed by the Doctor. He peered at the Time Lady intently.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, feeling concern. Rose fed on his emotion, shaking her head. He programmed the sequence for Earth as she looked on.

"Just hungry, I guess," Rose replied, shaking off any misgivings about the Master. The Doctor realized which hunger she spoke of. Wordlessly, he took her hand in his and let her mind touch his. Rose fed on his mental energy hungrily, savoring each thought impulse she received. As she received some memories from him, she saw the men she'd felt the other day in her meditation chamber. Questions were coming to the surface for her just then. Who were they? Why were they in the Doctor's memories? She broke off the contact with him so suddenly that he reeled from the severing of their thoughts.

"Rose?" he ventured tentatively. The Time Lady looked at him, her hazel eyes confused.

"I…sorry…" she said, leaving him alone and bewildered in the console room. Rose went into the Master's garden, her mind searching for answers. For her, the garden was calming like the Zero room. In the aftermath of her questions, she probed until she was rewarded with one of the men, the one with the scarf, appearing in front of her.

"I want some answers!" She demanded. "Who are you? Who are the others? Why are you in the Doctor's mind?"

The old man materialized just then. "Such a tone will not get you any answers, young lady!" he said angrily.

"She has a right to be confused, even a little annoyed," the Byronesque man was saying as he joined the other two strangers.

Rose heard the voice belonging to the man in the Cricketer's suit just then. "Forgive him," he said, appearing and pointing at the old man. "He gets tetchy every now and then."

The old man harrumphed, disappearing. "Why all the mystery? Why won't you tell me who you all are?" she cried to the one in the scarf, frustrated.

"It doesn't suit our purpose to reveal who we are just yet, or share our contacting you with him," the man replied.

"You mean the Doctor doesn't know you?" Rose wanted to know.

"He knows," the man with the coat of many colors said, appearing beside her. "He just doesn't know we've connected with _you."_

"Why don't you want him to know?" Rose asked. The little, baggy trousered man appeared.

"Because the timing isn't right for him or you to know everything," he responded. The man glanced at the hallway leading to the gardens.

"He's coming," he told Rose, disappearing. The others followed suit, leaving her alone. The current Doctor came inside, running his hands through his big hair.

"What's going on?" he asked. "Why did you leave?" Rose disarmed him with a smile.

"I would have thought you didn't want me around, in as much as I _did_ kidnap you," she said in a teasing tone. The Doctor looked at her incredulously, thinking that if they spent a thousand years in each other's company, he would never get used to her mood swings.

"I offered to help you," he said finally. "There is a difference."

"But I also had to use a weapon to get you to capitulate," she debated.

"I would have gotten it from you eventually," the Doctor replied, shrugging.

Rose crossed her arms and pinned him with a stare, thinking, _Arrogant git!_

_I __**heard**__ that! _The Doctor's mental comment bounced back.

_You were meant to! _She rejoined. The Doctor pouted, but didn't say anything. The Master's TARDIS materialized moments later. They both looked at the display screen.

"Ah, hah!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Powell Estates, London, early twenty-first century! We made it!"

"You doubted that we would?" Rose asked somewhat disdainfully. He gave her a look, wondering suddenly if their partnership was a good idea.

XXXXXXXXX

After the Doctor set the Master's ship on the automatic command for limbo, the pair grabbed the things they had packed and left. The pinstriped Time Lord's long legs propelled him toward the TARDIS, and as he got closer, he could feel his body rejuvenating.

"There she is!" he cried.

Rose spied an old, worn blue box, and checked to see if anyone was walking in their general direction. The Doctor pointed ahead, his excitement infectious. His fellow female acquaintance relaxed, letting herself feel his joy.

He ran up to the door, feeling the wooden structure. Rose heard a pleasant humming, as if the TARDIS was welcoming them (which it very well might have been).

"She looks fine!" the Doctor shouted. He flung open the doors and, upon seeing the console room, let the familiar sounds of his TARDIS wash over his mind. Rose took that moment to study the room. Unlike the Master's TARDIS, which had a black colored console room, this one had a less harsh, brown room with tinges of green on its walls. Although the roundels looked similar to the Master's, their round, white spheres cast a warmer glow than his ship. The Time Lady also sensed a female, rather than male, presence. Rose wondered if that could pose a problem. She didn't want this TARDIS to view her as a rival for the Doctor's attention.

"You missed me, didn't you, old girl?" he asked, running his hand up and down the main control board. In affirmation, the TARDIS tinkled a pleasant, xylophonic-sounding string of tingles.

"You traveled in this?" Rose queried.

"And if I did?" the Doctor returned, his question clearly having an edge to its tone.

"Jus'…it's so…_old," _Rose commented. The Doctor shifted from one area of the control board to another, stroking his beloved ship and murmuring words of comfort in Gallifreyan. The Time Lady swore she could hear a mewling sound in the background.

"She's one of the oldest ships around," the Doctor explained, "a Type 40. The Time Lord scientists were going to take her apart and melt her down. 'Too expensive to repair,' they said. 'Lots of structural damage. Better to just use the parts to outfit a Type 60 or higher.'"

"I can see why," Rose said somewhat snobbishly. "Look at her! What a piece of junk!"

The Time Lady felt a bee sting of an electric jolt on her arm just then.

"Ouch!" She cried. The Doctor grinned, but didn't laugh.

"Guess she showed you," he remarked, a twinkle in his brown eyes. Rose's response was to give him a mental bee sting. He touched his temple as he felt the twinge of a headache. When he glared at the young woman, she raised a brow, a mischievous glint in her brown eyes.

"If you want to get along with my ship, two things you should remember," the Doctor advised. "One, _don't _ever say that she is a piece of junk. Two, and most important, she is not an 'it'. _She _is a 'she'.

Rose took that moment to change the subject. "Why does this TARDIS resemble a blue box with the words 'Police Box' on it?"

The Doctor responded, "Long time ago, when I first visited Earth, she disguised herself as a Police Box because they were plentiful in the 1960's in England. Necessary for summoning bobbies back then."

"But why does it still look like that now?" Rose wanted to know. "We're in 21st century Earth you said, right?"

"Yep," the Doctor told her.

"So, why does it resemble something that doesn't exist anymore?" she asked. "Wouldn't your ship be too conspicuous?"

"Not really," the Doctor replied. "It has been my experience that humans tend to ignore what's right in front of them. Case in point: I've been separated from the TARDIS for approximately ninety-five and seventh eighths hours now, and no one has tried to either steal her to collect her, or to put her on the conveyor belt for scrapping."

"Well, doesn't this rust buck—" Rose began, but she amended her question when the Time Lord glared at her –"_ship _have a Chameleon Circuit?"

It does have one," the Doctor declared. "I've tried to repair or replace the circuit when I could, but the old girl keeps rejecting it. I know it's the right variation, a Model 'T 4-0', so why doesn't she want one?" When Rose didn't respond, the Doctor surmised, "my guess is that she likes looking that way."

Rose decided to ask what she hoped was a neutral question. "Where will my room be?" she queried.

"Where would you like it to be?" he asked, walking through the corridors which the TARDIS dutifully folded back for him. Rose followed as he suggested over his shoulder, "Northern exposure? An Eastern view? Or are you a—" he did a very poor male imitation of Vivien Leigh—"_Southern _gal?"

Rose placed her hands on her hips, her expression indicating that his sense of humor left much to be desired. "Yep," he told her, popping his "p", "West wing, I think." She followed him out of the room, trying to keep up with him. The ship folded back corridors until they reached a chamber with double doors.

The doors resembled a wooden portal with rectangular panels set in it. The Doctor pushed them open, revealing an empty, if large, space. Rose stared at what was to be her new home.

"Looks a little bare, don't you think?" she asked. The Doctor snorted.

"You know as well as I do that you have to specify what kind of furniture you want," he explained. "She's not a mind reader, you know, at least not where you're concerned."

Rose looked up at the high ceiling and requested, "I'd like a four poster bed, Queen sized, with a nightstand from the Baroque period. I'd also like an oil lamp from the Victorian era on the stand." The TARDIS readily complied. Rose put her knapsack on the bed and started putting some of her clothes in a closet that had materialized.

"Where's the bathroom?" she wanted to know. The Doctor pointed to a room next to the closet. Rose went through it, stepping into a bathroom twice the size of what she had had on the Master's TARDIS. It had white and black marble floors, with a Jacuzzi next to a sunken four claw bathtub. Next to the tub was a huge shower stall, complete with a viewing screen inside. The shower had white curtains covering it.

"I think I'll shower and change clothes," Rose said. The Doctor nodded, murmuring something about doing the same.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Moments later, Rose emerged from the shower, feeling refreshed and also happy that the TARDIS didn't do anything mean spirited to her. She went into the bedroom and, pulling out a brown vest with a white blouse and pants, began to dress. She combed out her now-almost-brown hair, making certain that she didn't look unkempt. Rose found the console room minutes later, but noticed that the Doctor had not returned.

The female time traveler decided to wait. Spying some chairs out of the corner of her eye, Rose squatted, but before she could sit in the chair, whe cried, "Oooph!" as she landed on her bum. She looked up, seeing that the chair had vanished.

"What's the big idea?" she cried to the TARDIS.

As Rose stood up rubbing her bum, the ship said in her mind, _you and I need to talk._

_About what? _Rose thought back, still very annoyed.

_I am not as naïve about you as the Doctor is, _the TARDIS telegraphed. _I discretely scanned your thoughts the minute you entered me. You may think you can charm your way into his affections and get him to do anything you want, but understand this: your feminine wiles though they might entice him will not sway __**me**__! If your intentions are anything less than honorable, and you seek to lead my Doctor in a fool's paradise, you will pay dearly._

Rose didn't doubt that the TARDIS meant every word. She couldn't afford to have the Doctor's ship tormenting her, so she mentally responded, _they are honorable. My association with the Doctor is strictly business. Once our transaction is concluded, we will go our separate ways._

_I'm glad you feel that way, _the TARDIS responded, _because if you ever break his hearts, I won't hesitate to break your face!_

Before Rose could respond, the object of their discussion swept in with a hunter green suit which, though not pinstriped, still cut a dashing figure on him. It had a red shirt beneath it which would have looked slightly garish on any other man, but for some reason, Rose decided it suited him to a tee. The Doctor even had a matching green tie, and he still wore his red Converses with white trim. When the Doctor saw her staring at him, he glanced down at himself.

_Nope, _he mentally thought, _didn't confuse my sock colors this time. _Aloud, he asked her, "Something wrong with my attire?"

Rose swallowed, saying, "No. You look fine."

The Doctor smirked, saying, "Seems like, if you're tongue tied, I'm better than just 'fine'". His eyes told her that he liked her choice of clothing, too.

"What about me?" Rose pressed.

"You look fantastic!" the Doctor praised her. He punched several buttons on the dashboard in front of him for dematerialization. As the TARDIS wound its way through the void, she jerked, throwing the young Time Lady against the display screen on the wall. Rose finally sat down, looking at her crazy companion.

"Oops! Forgot to tell you: strap in, this could be bumpy!!" the Doctor cried, bouncing around and checking levers and cranks. His hair flew over his face as he rushed to the captain's chair to join her. Grabbing one of Rose's hands, the Time Lord held it as he reached over and took the seat belt in his free hand. He strapped her in as she glared at him.

The Doctor didn't pay attention to her reaction, but instead yelled, "Welcome aboard, Rose Tyler! Talley-ho!"


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

**A/N: This is a revised "author's note", in that I have decided that the story will continue. I am still fleshing out everything, and I was considering ending the story around chapter twelve, but I am encouraged to continue, so stay tuned.**

**I'm continuing to define the relationship in this Alternate Universe between TARDISes and their Time Lord and Lady operators, since I don't think the series ever succinctly explained that.**

XXXXXXXXXX

On the distant planet of Pon'parynia, the lone figure wandered along the barren rocks. Koschei stared at the desolate landscape before him, considering how best to apply the only option which lay open to him. He tried to contact his TARDIS, but it did not reply back. Looking about the world he was marooned on temporarily, his greatest fear that the Doctor had finally bested him violently rising to the surface. A creature that he remembered as a rumalach, a harmless animal resembling a rabbit on Earth except for its slightly smaller size, hopped up to him. Surprisingly, the Master let the animal go, focusing instead on the challenge his foe had given him.

He pulled some food out of the knapsack and started munching on it. _So, _he thought bitterly, _it seems the Doctor has won at last. _ He decided to try to put the time he would spend on the miserable planet to good use. Rummaging through the sack, the Master placed the supplies on the ground. He became more and more agitated, his eyes darting back and forth in a fearful frenzy as he saw the meager supplies his many times ex friend had left him with. Koschei angrily flung the knapsack from him in total frustration when he spied an object fall from it out of the corner of his eye: his laser screwdriver!

He grabbed his screwdriver, turning the setting so that it issued an SOS. The screwdriver pinged, sending reddish yellow pulses with the noise up into the night sky. Once that was accomplished, Koschei set the screwdriver to illuminate the rocks before him as night descended. While he watched the rocks shine brightly, Koschei did something he had never done in his whole existence: he prayed to Bandellin, the Gallifreyan High Priest of Mayhem and Destruction.

The Master had never been one to embrace any religion in any form, mostly because he thought that it was all too comforting to believe in supernatural entities which did not exist rather than in one's own potential. He also hated competition. Koschei fed his own ego, telling himself that he was a god in his own right. Since he was, in fact, a deity, there should and would not be any others.

But as the first waves of separation anxiety from his TARDIS hit him full force, causing pain in his stomach, he prayed to the one being he admired in all his studies of Gallifreyan history; the being who had reigned supreme before Rassilon had messed things up for the Time Lords. He offered a plea to the one who would see the Master return to the darkness to terrorize his greatest enemy yet again. He focused on the Doctor, savoring the moment when Time Lord's burning body and anguished screams would send him into the greatest ecstasy.

Another pang of pain hit him, this time in his chest. Koschei fought to rid himself of these sensations, but as the link between him and his ship grew fainter, he found that he was going under. He tried reaching out to his TARDIS telepathically again, but he still received no answer. The Master felt his head pound like the drums that were his constant companions. Though he was loath to admit he needed help, Koschei reached out to the only living being who could aid him

XXXXXXXXXXXX

On the Doctor's TARDIS, Rose felt her mind retreating to a corner she had thought she'd not hear from again. She heard the cries of her sire, and reached out to reassure him that she intended only the best for him. She winced at his hatred, jerking enough in her chair so that the Doctor saw.

"Rose?" he asked, looking at her. "You okay? Is it too bumpy for you, then?"

"No," she responded. "I'm just…weary for some reason."

"You don't need to feed again, do you?" the Doctor wondered. Rose shook her head.

"I just need to meditate. Should be okay in moments. I'm thinking she has a meditation room somewhere?" Rose inquired. The Doctor's long arm thrust out to Rose's left.

"Zero room, straight through there. She'll show you where it is," he said. Rose undid her belt and got up, walking out and through the corridors until she found the room. Where the Master's Zero room had been done in a grey color, the Doctor's was a peachy pink. She thought that she might be able to get used to the color scheme in time. She then banished any thoughts about getting used to anything in the Doctor's TARDIS, or the Doctor himself.

_Just stick to the plan, _the Time Lady reminded herself. The Master's feelings intruded then, still distant but unmistakable. Although Rose could not mentally speak to him, she knew instinctively what he needed. She remembered her first day in her new life as the Master rapidly educated her in what being a full creature of Time meant.

"_TARDISes are not just like cars or planes or the like. They share a very special bond with the Time Lords or Ladies who own them," he had told her._

"_So, you're sayin' that they are…I dunno…sentient?" Rose had asked. The Master smiled a cold, yet pleasing grin._

"_Very good, my dear," he dolled out genuine praise towards her, happy that his pet had learned something valuable right off without having to be coached too much._

"_You see, even prior to the time a Lord of Time or a Lady ever sees the TARDIS they are to command, the bonding takes place. That insures that the ship and his or her pilot will instantly be in rapport with one another. When that happens, any period of separation of a long duration will cause unbearable pain, and possibly death, if they are not reunited," he said to Rose._

"_So, if we land on a planet, you have to remain inside, then?" Rose had asked, confused. The Master gave her a withering look before remembering that she was just in her infancy, after all._

"_No, child," he'd said with as much patience as he could muster. "As long as a TARDIS is on a planet, or in a planet's atmosphere where its pilot is, or as long as the Time Lord or Lady and the ship can forge a mental link with each other, both suffer no pain. But if I were on Earth in this galaxy, and my TARDIS was trapped in another universe where I could not link with it, then untold physical and emotional anguish would build until…"_

_Rose shuddered, saying, "You don't have to tell me again. I promise, I will help keep you both safe and able to contact each other. I won't let you be separated."_

_The Master had stared at her, looking to her as though he was trying to find duplicity in her words. When he found none, he said, "Thank you, my dear."_

Rose's thoughts returned to the present as she concentrated on where the Master's ship might be. She remembered what the Doctor had said about limbo, and fixed her thoughts on that plane of Time. After a moment, she smiled when she found the Master's TARDIS's signature. Rose reached out to the Master, linking him with his TARDIS. His sensations of pain stopped instantly, and she breathed a sigh of relief. The Master's link dissolved as Rose considered the Doctor.

He had put two devices from Koschei's ship in his pocket. One, she recognized as a dematerialization circuit; the other, she didn't recognize. She didknow how she could find out, however. The evil Time Lady came back into the console room where the hunter green clad Time Lord stood.

"All right, now?" the Doctor asked.

"Yeh," Rose responded. She sidled over to the control panel, peering at the information etched on the screen. After a moment's pause, Rose commented, "Why aren't we goin' anywhere?"

"We will soon," the Doctor told her, "but it occurs to me that it will be easier to find the right sequence codes in my Chameleon Arch in order to cure you if there isn't too much interplanetary interference."

Rose thought about how the Master's TARDIS didn't seem to care about that. The Doctor anticipated the direction of her thoughts just then. "Type 40, remember?" he reminded Rose. "Takes a bit more for her to work out the right sequence to change you back, particularly since you don't want to be exactly as you were, but you want variations. Don't want our brains to be soup, now do we?"

"And _don't _think that I don't appreciate your efforts on my behalf," she said sarcastically. The Doctor grimaced as he set the computer circuitry to work on the right codes.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Koschei lay on his arms, his hands under his head, looking up at the stars in the night sky. Yes, a new day was coming. If he was feeling somewhat benevolent, he would spare the peoples on said planets and moons to become his servants, or his personal favorite, he would see all of the worlds in this galaxy burn until the last planet fell.

He felt the tingling of electric energy and smelled the moisture in the air. Gathering clouds on the horizon told the Master that he was right: a storm was coming. Looking about, he spotted some caves not too far from where he was. The malevolent Gallifreyan grabbed his belongings and went toward the caves. Going inside, the Master used his laser screwdriver's light to illuminate his path, and not a moment too soon as the first rains fell and a clap of thunder could be heard.

The inside of the cave he was in didn't have any creatures lurking about. Of course, he cared not a whit for any, but if he could save the energy in the 'screwdriver for annihilating the Doctor rather than insignificant pests who were not worth his time or trouble, so much the better. Knowing his signal would more than likely be snuffed out during the storm, Koschei walked further on, studying the walls for any signs of technology or civilization so he could resume sending an SOS.

A symbol on a wall to his right caught his eye. The Master went closer to the wall and used his laser screwdriver's light to show him who or what might have etched something in it. As he beheld the familiar concentric circles and shapes which were in Old High Gallifreyan, Koschei grinned. Apparently, some Time Lords had been here, and they had cloaked themselves from the Doctor's notice. But, where were they now?

A further reading told him the truth: apparently, they had underestimated those they had fought on this world. Some incomplete markings indicated that they had won a small victory. They had sealed their enemies behind the walls for all eternity, unless, of course, a Time Lord or Lady was present to open the lock from the outside. To prevent anyone else from accidentally discovering the whereabouts of the locked inhabitants, they had also activated a cloaking device which could not be detected even by their own people until it was manually deactivated at the proper time. His midnight blue eyes fell upon the last word on the wall, which had not been completed before the Time Lord who'd chiseled it had breathed his last.

He smiled again, a triumphant look on his face. So, there was a race who was imprisoned on this world, and the Doctor and the evil Time Lord's former pet had not detected it. Perhaps, when he had freed them, they would be so grateful for his help that they would, in turn, help him reach his TARDIS. Once he had gained their trust, he would get off the planet, settle things with the Doctor and the traitrous bitch Rose Tyler once and dispatch the fools to the great beyond.

The rains outside had stopped, as if the very heavens themselves approved of the plan the Master now had.

"Yes, _mon Docteur; oui, mon fleur_: your time is at an end," he breathed.

He studied the other symbols and, connecting the proverbial dots, discovered who the imprisoned ones were. He had to tread carefully, to be subtle; but he was a master at subtlety if it served his purpose. Koschei adjusted the setting on his laser screwdriver to kill the creatures when they got out of line, then placed his fingers on the panel beside the door of the leader. As the door opened and the being emerged, the Master trained his beam on it, fully prepared to give his Bafta winning speech.

"Who are you?" the creature asked. Koschei grinned a superior smile of triumph.

"I am your humble servant," he told it, "and my first duty will be to rid you of a common enemy we both share."

The being beeped its acknowledgment.


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

**A/N: The Master forges an uneasy truce between the beings on Pon'parynia as the Doctor tries to find a way to cure Rose of her vampirism. Sounds like a piece of cake, right? **

**Thanks to you guys for your great reviews. This chapter is dedicated to all the kind souls out there who left a message concerning this story. I will try to be worthy of your continued readership and your trust in this alternate universe. **

"_Who are you?" the creature asked. Koschei grinned a superior smile of triumph._

"_I am your humble servant," he told it, "and my first duty will be to rid you of a common enemy we both share."_

_The being beeped its acknowledgment._

XXXXXXXXXX

As the Doctor worked furiously to come up with the right sequence to change Rose back, the object of his hard work was in the Zero room, thinking about what she'd do when she went back to her Master. She knew that Koschei could be short tempered, even somewhat abusive emotionally, but in comparison to the other men she had known, he was a veritable pussycat.

XXXXXXXXXXX

The being scanned the Master with an all encompassing blue ray. His hair stood on end as his skin pulsed with electricity. As soon as it had been turned on, the ray disappeared.

"So, what is your answer?" the Master pressed.

"You – are – a – Time – Lord?" It asked not without some trepidation, its voice the gravelly mechanical sound of a robot.

The Master considered how to answer that question. If he said "yes" they would more than likely shoot first then ask questions later. If he responded in the negative, they would possibly destroy him before he could regenerate. Before he answered the one before him, Koschei whipped out his laser screwdriver and aimed for the creature's main weapon. He short circuited it.

"You – have – disabled – my – weapon," it responded. The malevolent Time Lord smirked.

"So, I did! And now, I am at an all time high advantage," he said. "But I have no wish to destroy you. As I said before, I stand ready to aid you. I am a Time Lord, and I know all about the Doctor, including all of his weaknesses."

The creature didn't move, but instead paused as if it were thinking about what the Master had said.

"What – do – you – wish – in –re - turn?" the mechanical being wanted to know. The most evil Gallifreyan ever conceived answered without hesitation.

"I wish to return to my ship," he told the creature. "Under the circumstances, I think it is a bargain!"

The mechanical object beeped, then said, "The – lea- der – must – know." Koschei shrugged.

"Of course!" the Master agreed, thinking, _simpleton! Once I gain control of your ship and all of its power, you will perish along with all of your kind in flames!_

XXXXXXXXXXX

Rose had concluded only man who treated her even better than the Master was the Doctor. He could be extremely weird in his mannerisms, and his notion that she should be exactly as she had been before ever meeting Koschei was totally ridiculous to her. Other than the disagreements they had in their philosophies however, Rose decided that for a Time Lord, the Doctor wasn't bad.

Of course, that still didn't mean that she wanted to remain with him forever. He would drive her insane eventually with his desire to help everyone, even at the cost of one of his lives. Knowing him even just a little, Rose surmised that it had to be in the high numbers. The newly created Time Lady still wasn't sure how many lives the Doctor had used up traveling to-and-fro through Time and Space without so much as a by your leave, and getting into danger like he did. She'd tried connecting with the different men who had telepathically contacted her, but they were strangely silent concerning the Doctor. Rose wondered why, since they seemed pretty talkative most of the time in her thoughts.

Ever since all nine of them had come into her mind, the Master's former pet found that she asked more questions than had answers. They were so different in their personalities, and yet, the Time Lady knew that they were somehow the same. The mental energy vampire questioned in her mind whether they were related to the Doctor she traveled with. The more she thought about it, the more that hypothesis seemed to make sense.

_Are they close personal friends, _Rose mentally mused, _or brothers of his?_

The female Gallifreyan thought about asking the TARDIS, but she abandoned that idea. The ship and Rose weren't friendly with each other, and the mental energy vampire doubted that the time travel device would answer her questions about the mysterious men.

Rose tried to see if maybe probing the Doctor's mind might provide some information, but his thoughts were blocked off from her intrusions. That was the irony of her condition: draining a being with a longer life span and greater mental properties tended to provide more nourishment for her, but the memories also dissipated at a much quicker rate. She supposed that it had to do with the fact that longer lived individuals had greater mental barriers which prevented Rose from doing any significant damage.

Had she connected with either the Doctor or the Master long enough, Rose thought, she probably _could_ drain them to the point where they too would be vegetables like the simple minded humans and humanoids she snacked on daily. The problem with that was that draining a Time Lord might literally take years, if not centuries.

By the time the being could be emptied, the mental defenses would have already prevented such a thing, and Rose herself would be mentally challenged from the constant effort.

_Such a catch 22, _she thought caustically. The best she could do was to take whatever the more experienced Time Lords of her acquaintance gave her.

Because the memories of both the Doctor and the Master didn't last long in her mind, Rose found to her frustration that she didn't know how many lives the two Time Lord enemies had experienced. The former human concentrated on the Doctor. If she wanted to feed longer on him, Rose knew she had to get past his mental barriers completely by creating an atmosphere of unwavering trust.

Although she had wanted things between them to be on a business level, Rose decided that it might not hurt to find out what she could about him. As her Master had always told her, "keep your friends close, but your enemies closer".

XXXXXXXXXX

The being rolled alongside the Master toward another set of tombs. Koschei studied the symbols beside the largest one. It told of the being of supreme power which lay beyond its opening. The evil Time Lord hedged his bets. He knew he could not use his laser screwdriver again; the creature beside him would not allow it.

"You – will – set – the – emperor – free," the mechanical one told the Master.

"Your wish is my fondest command," he promised. Scrutinizing the etchings, Koschei found several musical notes by the entrance. He pressed his fingers to each panel, two to the top; three, to the bottom. The door opened and a creature that was larger than the freed one emerged. It had a dark green finish, with a top section almost resembling a "W". The top was made out of a silvery substance; it reflected all throughout the cavern.

When it had rolled out of the door slightly, a lighter green light locked it in place, along with the first creature the Master had encountered.

"I – can – not – move," it wailed. Koschei smiled.

"Naturally," he told both. "Do you take me for a fool? I have encountered your kind on many occasions. You shall _not _control me!" He pressed another sequence of notes, in effect disarming the emperor being. A slab slid out from the opposite wall. The Master sat on it.

"Now that you are both in a much more amiable position, let's see how we can call the Doctor," he said.

XXXXXXXXXXX

The thought about commandeering the Doctor's TARDIS, stranding him, and returning to the Master, suddenly seemed repugnant to Rose. She was frustrated when she realized that she could not go through with her plan. What infuriated her the most was that she didn't even know if she could regard the Doctor as an enemy any more. Rose wouldn't go so far as to say that he was her friend, or even an acquaintance really, but he wasn't an enemy anymore. That made him...what? She didn't know, and, she decided, she didn't want to know.

As Rose walked toward the console room, her ears heard a most peculiar noise. It was distinctly horrible, like the warble of a were-beast, or some other particularly dangerous animal.

_Probably got himself in trouble, _she thought, bracing herself for anything. Rose opened the door to the console room and ran inside. She looked all around the room, but she couldn't see the Doctor anywhere. The terrible noise was worse inside. The vampire Time Lady wondered if maybe the creature causing it had taken the Time Lord somewhere. If so, she didn't know how she would find him, nor did she know how to get him back if she did locate the Doctor.

"Doctor?" Rose cried out. "Can you hear me?" The noise stopped all of a sudden.

"Doctor?" Rose tried again. "Where are you?"

"Wha' d'you mean, 'where am I?'" the Time Lord responded indignantly. "I've been here all day. Where else would I be?" The Doctor bounced up from his vantage point under the control panel, complete with a smudgy face and wrinkled clothes.

"But, when I heard that sound, I thought..." Rose began saying. The Doctor stared at her quizzically.

"What sound?" he asked. "Describe it to me."

"It was a horrible noise," Rose told him. "I cannot describe it, exactly."

"What was it saying, or doing?" the Doctor questioned, waiting for Rose to reply as he reached for a towel he had placed on his control panel. He wiped the dirt off of his face and then, having done so, stared at her.

Rose repeated the noise. The Time Lord gave her an icy look. "Tha' was no horrible noise, tha' was me!" he cried, highly annoyed with her.

"You?" Rose asked.

The Doctor nodded, saying, "Yep. I was singing. Was a song from the mid-1980's from your Earth."

Rose's hand flew to her chest as she said, "Oh, thank Rassilon! I thought there was a horrible monster in here making that noise, and I was thinking about how I could rescue...". She stopped when she caught the Doctor's glare.

The Time Lady laughed just then, a big, throaty laugh; the Doctor, however, was not amused.

"'M sorry..." Rose said when she stopped giggling. "Really, I am!"

XXXXXXXXXXX

Koschei cleared his throat and sang a wordless tune at the top of his throat. Instantly, six more portals opened, allowing the imprisoned ones to be free. They all rolled toward where their leader, the Master, and the first one were either sitting or standing in the center of the cave. Despite their ability to roll ahead, they were still partially frozen. Their weapons were immobilized.

The malevolent Time Lord focused on Rose. Rose was the key that would summon the Doctor. He willed himself not to be detected as he probed her subconscious mind.

_That's it, my girl; lay all your thoughts before me! _The Master thought. He saw Rose giggling at the Doctor's horrible singing. An intense wave of jealousy gripped him. Outwardly, he showed no emotions; inwardly, the Master boiled.

_How __**dare**__ she laugh at him! _He thought angrily. "She is mine to deal with..." he whispered, "mine!" The Master curled his fingers into a fist and tightened them.

_Come back to me, Rose..._he chanted over and over. _Come back to me!_

XXXXXXXXXXXX

In the conscious realm, the Doctor gave her a withering look as he asked, "What did you want, Rose?" He was about to turn his attention back to the wires under the console when he heard her voice.

"Tell me about you, Doctor," she requested. The Doctor stared at her for what seemed like a long moment. He figured that she was plotting something since she had never gone out of her way to be nice to him, but for the life of him, he didn't know what.

"I mean, if we are possibly going to be together for awhile, it occurs to me that I should know some things about you," she went on. The Doctor responded by going back down and sliding under the console, the only visible part of him being his long legs.

"I thought you didn't like me," he said. "I don't usually share intimate details with those who don't like me."

"I never said I didn't like you," Rose responded. Before the Doctor slid back out from under the console, she went on. "I don't want to pick curtains out with you or anything, but I never said that I didn't like you."

He slid back out and looked at her intensely. "So, you _do _like me, Rose Tyler?" he queried. Rose gazed into those warm, brown eyes, and melted just a little.

She looked at the metal grille on the ground for a moment before she said sheepishly, "I...kinda like you."

Rose looked back at the Doctor. He smiled at her, and as he did he forgot his earlier supposition that she was up to something not good. Rose decided that she could get used to his cheeky grin and she genuinely wasn't returning to her original plan. The Master had never smiled at her like that, and, when he _did_ grin, it was as cold as a glacier on the dark side of Gallifrey.

"Tha's a start," the Doctor finally responded. "What would you like to know?"

Rose put her hand to her chin, rubbing it thoughtfully. "I dunno. Maybe we should start with the basics. Do you have a favorite sport? Favorite food?" She wondered aloud.

"I used to be wild about Cricket," the Doctor replied, thinking about his fifth self's passion for that sport. "Now, I like baseball, I suppose."

"That's encouraging," Rose said. "I like baseball, too. Koschei never took me to a game; he liked polo and rugby, but I watched it on the time telly sometimes. I saw the Chicago Blues, once. They were terrific!"

The Doctor snorted, commenting, "The Blues are OK, but you haven't seen a _real_ team until you've seen the Chicago White Sox. They are by far the greatest! As for my favorite food, I think you can guess...".

Rose thought a moment, then she said, "Bananas?"

The Doctor nodded, asking her, "You once said you like them, too. Is that your favorite food?"

Rose answered, "No. My favorite food is Wulderberries. 'Discovered them on the planet Scarn at one of their dessert houses. The owner's mind was tasty, too."

The Doctor stared at her. Rose questioned, "What?" He shook his head back and forth.

"Believe me, Rose," he said, "you'll feel so much better once you're cured. You'll also be normal." She felt her ire start to rise, along with a pressing need to be restored right away so that she could go to Pon'parynia and her Master.

Rolling her eyes, Rose ground out "As opposed to you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" the Doctor asked, getting slightly annoyed.

"You say you're normal, but from the visions I saw, you don't seem normal since _normal_ Time Lords didn't go traipsing around in Time and Space, trying to muck about in the affairs of others!" Rose shouted.

The Doctor angrily snapped, "Oh, really? Figure you know all about it, do you?"

Rose frowned but didn't say anything. For once, she didn't have a single comeback. The Doctor seized the opportunity to press his point.

"What am I supposed to do?" he asked. "Let other planets die without doing something to try to save them?" He crossed his arms, pouting.

"Can't do that, Rose," he whispered. "I couldn't live with myself if I didn't interfere when it was warranted."

"Why not? If it was a planet's time to die, why not let it happen?" Rose countered.

"Suppose it _wasn't_ their time?" the Doctor debated. "Wha' if a diabolical master mind, no pun intended, came down to their world and started making a royal mess of things, what then?"

Rose responded, "Well, if they are stupid enough to invite trouble, then who are you, or anyone, to interfere?"

"Spoken like a true Time Lady," the Doctor responded bitterly.

"Wha' does that mean?" Rose bit back, her eyes blazing with fury.

"Means that you extol non interference," the Doctor pronounced. "That's an admirable tack to take. It absolves you of any wrongdoing, doesn't it? You get to sit on your high chair an' watch worlds disintegrate an' not feel a bloody _thing!"_

"Well..." Rose began, but the Doctor cut her off.

"Except that all that gets you is a culture that's forgotten, and a world that's destroyed when it might not have had to be," the Doctor told her. He walked over to the data screen and stared at the star patterns. When he turned around, his dark eyes were filled with tears.

"I tried to tell them," the Doctor said, his voice broken. "They thought I was barmy. Maybe if they'd interfered more...maybe if they'd gotten off of their proverbial high horses once in awhile, they would be around to complain about me a little longer."

Rose took the Doctor's hand in hers. She thought about what he had just said about the Time Lords, and she empathized with him. The younger time traveler tried to feel what it would be like had she presented her case to powers on Earth to act before war and devastation consumed them, only to have them laugh at her, rebuke her, and reject her until it was too late.

Rose realized that the Doctor was right to a certain extent. Perhaps there were circumstances which demanded some sort of action rather than just doing nothing, and had the Time Lords done _something, _they could have prevented the total annihilation of Gallifrey.

Of course, even if the Masters and Mistresses of Time had stepped in and done something, that didn't guarantee that their world would be saved. They could have fought and still ended up with the same results.

Either scenario was probable. She realized that each would result in endless mulling about both possibilities, so Rose did what came into her mind at that moment. She pulled the Doctor to her and hugged him tightly. The Doctor's eyes widened. He returned the hug, and then pulled apart from her.

"Why did you...?" he asked, an expression of awe on his face.

"Because you needed comforting," Rose said.

The Doctor's eyes searched hers for any hint of deception on her part. When he found none, the Time Lord said, "Thanks."

"'Welcome," Rose said softly. "But don't think this will happen on a regular basis."

The Doctor shook his head, saying, "No, Rose. Absolutely not. We're just...not fighting for today. We'll resume tomorrow."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Still cloaked from his former student, the Master thought angrily, _when I'm done with you both, you'll be fighting today and everyday! You'll destroy each other!_

"The – Doc – tor -will -be -here - soon?" one of the many beings asked the Master.

The Master continued his assault on Rose. "I guarantee it," he promised.

XXXXXXXXXX

Rose peered at the star patterns on the viewscreen.

"So, are we at the right alignment planet-wise for me to be cured?" she asked. The Doctor pressed at least two more buttons and nodded. He walked into the med bay toward the table with the Chameleon Arch on it. Rose followed.

As the benevolent Time Lord picked it up, turning the knobs on the helmet to the left and to the right, Rose could see that it had cables leading into and out of it. Unlike the Master's Chameleon Arch, which depended less on wires and more on wireless transmissions, the Doctor's looked incapable of performing genetic alterations without the brown, red, blue, green and mauve threads running into it.

He turned on a machine to its right and gestured to a table which looked identical to the one Rose had lain on for the Master. She slowly walked over to it, her mind wondering if she really wanted the transformation she would undergo. Did she really want to be the Master's pet yet and eat mental scraps again, or did she want to be free to feed on whomever she chose, whenever she chose? Was she ready to possibly give up a life traveling amongst the stars just to settle down on a boring planet?

Rose hesitantly jumped up onto the table. She lay upon the pillow, asking, "So, this will be painful jus' like the last time, yeah?"

"I won't lie to you, Rose," the Doctor answered. "Any rearrangement of physical and mental materials within a body is..." he ran his fingers through his big, thick hair, then he said, "weeellll, it's like being born, I s'pose."

Rose blanched a little. The Doctor stroked her forehead with his cool, long hands. "I'll be there with you," he said, then when she threw him a questioning look, he went on. "In your mind...I will be there until you don't hear me anymore. When your previous memories clutter your thoughts, that is when you'll know you're cured.'

_Remember, Rhy'ana, _he thought to her, _I will be there for as long as you need me._

Rose looked up at him, outwardly peaceful. He sensed the unrest she felt however.

_It will go much smoother if you relax, _he projected. Rose willed herself into a calming trance.

_Good girl! _The Time Lord praised. He fished the watch with her essence inside of it from his pocket and after opening it he laid it in the figure of a timepiece on top of the machine. The Doctor put the helmet on Rose and turned the knob to the right slightly.

"Okay, Rose, ready for synaptic interface," he told her. "You'll feel a little bit drowsy. That is perfectly normal." Rose's eyes held his with an affirmative look. He secured the straps at the bottom of the Chameleon Arch on Rose's head.

XXXXXXXXXX

On the planet's surface, the Master saw the watch in his mind.

_No! _He telepathically screamed. _I will __**not **__allow him to succeed! _He linked with Rose while the Doctor's back was turned to the watch.

_I __**must**__ know more about that watch! __**I must know more!! **_The Master's thought raged on in the bottom of her mind.

XXXXXXXXXX

The Doctor peered at Rose, trying to gauge her reaction to everything.

"Still okay?" he asked.

XXXXXXXXXXX

The Master finally linked with the watch, careful not to leave a trace that he had been poking about. He felt the essence of Rose, and then he smiled. His prisoners were still captured, and the Doctor had no leg to stand on. Koschei didn't know what twist of fate had caused the malady to occur with the watch, but inwardly, he praised whatever evil entities there might be that tampered with it. He could hardly wait to see his foe's reaction.

"Now, the fun begins..." he murmured. Beyond, his captives were trying to escape. If they had emotions, some would have been frustrated; others, afraid.

But they had none. They could wait forever, if need be, to achieve their objective. The emperor put all of its concentration to breaking the musical barrier. It was powerful, but nothing could withstand an onslaught from either the leader, or from all of its followers working together. The Time Lord who had helped them would be destroyed once he had outlived his usefulness.

And worlds would crumble in their wake once they were free.

XXXXXXXXXX

_You are comfortable, Rhy'ana? _The Doctor transmitted in her mind.

_Yes, _Rose told him mentally. The Doctor bounded over to the machine and opened the watch. He was about to turn the final dial to start the changing process when his face registered absolute horror.

Studying the findings on a tiny indicator, he ran his fingers through his hair and whispered, "Shas'ti'ca." Rose lay back on her pillow, waiting for the pain of transferal to grip her.

But none ever came. The Time Lord checked the screen once more as he shut off the machine. "Can't do this..." he muttered, frustrated with himself. He undid Rose's restraints and walked out of the medical area.

Rose massaged her wrists. She frowned, perplexed. Why had the Doctor halted the process? She went into the console room and saw the Time Lord angrily shoving the watch into his pocket.

"Oi!" Rose cried. "That's my _future_ you jus' shoved in there!"

"No, it's not," the Doctor said in a voice so low she doubted she'd heard him correctly.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked. When the Doctor didn't answer but started programming in codes, she repeated the question.

"I heard you the first time," the Time Lord snapped. He put an image of a galaxy on display panel and punched in some data.

"Think you can get us there, old girl?" he asked. The TARDIS beeped affirmatively. "Good," he praised his ship.

Rose projected anger and frustration at her fellow traveler, repelling him slightly from the control panel. The Doctor took it without retaliating. "Tell me what's goin' on, or I will _drain_ you!" she threatened.

The Doctor looked at her sadly, asking, "Not like I can hide it, is it?" He took the watch out once more and placed it inside of a round plate on the control panel. Rose watched as the indicator read 10.00.

The Lord of Time pointed accusingly to the number, saying, "That's what's left of your life force! _That's _how much there is! It's not enough, Rose Tyler. The frequency is right; the equipment will work, but if I were to transfer so little of your matter inside of your body, you would be like those you feed on! You would be a vegetable!"

Rose's gob was wide open as she digested the Doctor's words. "But...how is that possible?" she murmured. "Koschei...?"

The time traveler shook his head. "No. The machine would have detected any tampering of that kind from him," the Doctor answered. "The only thing I can conjecture is that your life force bled out of the watch at some intermediate point."

Rose now ran her hand through her hair like the Doctor tended to do. "But why would it do that?" she asked with a broken voice.

The Doctor forced himself to be scientific as he responded to Rose's query. "Having been designed on Gallifrey, the timepiece was forged, coded, and properly prepared to register Gallifreyan brainwaves, Gallifreyan emotions, dreams, desires. Think of it like a filter, where thicker strains of thought matter are restrained until such time as the owner of said matter is able to reconnect with it again. Because a Time Lord or Lady's lifespan is exponentially greater, the strands of matter take a longer time to dissipate or burn out, if in fact they ever do.

"But a human has only _one _life span, only tied into _one _life, and since time passes for humans at a much faster rate, the thinner life energies contained within a Gallifreyan time piece would tend to want to not be bound but return over a short period of time to the owner of those waves. If the owner cannot be bonded to them, they'll dissipate to the farthest reaches of space more than likely, like a ghost returning to the afterlife. That is their nature."

"So, we just have to put out an A.P.B. on my brain life waves an' reassemble them, yeah?" Rose asked. The Doctor looked at her as if she were a two-year-old.

"We can't," he said, holding up his hand to silence the protest she was about to make.

"We _can't,_" he reiterated. "The energy waves don't just hang about in one corner of the universe; they disperse over the widest possible plane of existence. Even if we could track each an' every one of your brain wave activites tied into your life force, we wouldn't be able to arrange it so that it configures to your mind exactly as they were. An' what prevents some other brainwaves bein' connected to yours? You could be contaminated that way!" He cast a baleful look at Rose, who spun around so that she couldn't see him. The Doctor smelled the moisture on her face. He walked over to her and hugged her, rocking her back and forth.

"Rose, you might not be able to get back the memories, hopes and desires you lost in their entirety, but you can pick up some _new _ones along the way," the Doctor told her earnestly. He tugged her to the data screen. It showed several planets and above them, the words "Planets containing Cures for Vampires".

"Given time," the Doctor assured her, "I can find a cure for your physiological symptoms!" Rose stared at a large planet which was black, and the size of Earth.

"We shall go there first," he said, typing in the vortex dematerialization/materialization codes.

The Doctor thought he heard a musical chord for a moment as he typed, but then thought better of it. Absentmindedly, his hand strayed to another button with a numerical sequence. He typed in the symbols that would take them to the planet which would heal Rose. The Time Lord was unaware of the manipulations of the Master as he hummed the same wordless tune. When his fingers ceased their inputting of data, the TARDIS had been turned toward Pon'parayna.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Perfection!_ Koschei thought malevolently. He mentally reasoned, _after all,_ _who is better suited to the Doctor's destruction than those who destroyed our planet?_ He knew he was pressing his luck by aligning with the race of beings standing before him, but then, who could one trust to annihilate the Doctor if not a Dalek?

"YOU – WILL – DE – LI – VER THE DOC – TOR TO THE DA – LEKS NOOWW," one of them said.

"Not before you deliver one of your time travel devices to me," Koschei responded. "And, in return, I will not only restore your firing mechanisms to their full power, I will also open the remaining chambers the last of your fellow beings are sealed in."

The Emperor Dalek thought about that for a brief moment before it said, "VE – RY WELL! WE AC – CEPT YOUR TERMS."

The malevolent Gallifreyan thought about that Bogie movie that the humans loved, no matter what Earth he had found himself on. _Yes, _he crowed mentally, _this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship._


End file.
